Investigación & Desarrollo

ALAIC Summer School: A space for intergenerational academic dialogue

Jair Vega Casanova — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Preliminar

Asistente Editorial Revista Investigación & Desarrollo — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The role of communication in the culture of quality in higher education institutions: A systematic literature review

Sandra Milena Castaño-Rico — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: This article aims to explore the relationship between communication and quality culture in higher education institutions, through qualitative research based on a systematic review of the literature.

Materials and methods: From a systematic literature review, based on the methodology proposed by Velásquez (2014), in which the theoretical dimensions of the variables investigated were identified. Methodologically, 53 Latin American journals in education and 16 in communication, classified in Scimago, were reviewed.

Results: The culture of quality in higher education is imperative for the institutions that provide this service, and corporate communication is recognized as a strategic process for its consolidation and appropriation by the academic community. Despite its importance, the relationship between communication and quality culture has been little explored in the Latin American context. The systematic literature review identifies constructs that allow a conceptual approach to these categories and suggests a significant opportunity to deepen rigorous empirical studies that contribute to integrating corporate communication more effectively in the culture of quality in higher education institutions.

Conclusions: It is concluded that the relationship between communication and quality culture in higher education is a little-explored field but with great potential. Corporate communication, seen from a strategic perspective, plays a key role in the consolidation of a culture of continuous improvement in educational institutions.

Youth, uses and consumption of political news. Latin American bibliographic systematization

Eliseo Díaz — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of the article is to systematize the main axes of bibliographic discussion regarding young people as consumers of political news in national and local media in Latin American countries. In recent years, the uses and consumption of news have transformed due to changes caused by increasing polarization in political information and its influence on trust in traditional journalism, especially among young people who chose social networks as alternative sources. Added to this is the spread of deliberate misinformation, false information, and disinformation, exacerbated by information saturation and the infodemic.

The landscape of news consumption among young people has undergone significant shifts in recent times, primarily propelled by the rise of digital platforms and the proliferation of social media. These changes have not only altered the way news is disseminated but have also reshaped the dynamics of information trust and credibility. As young individuals increasingly turn to social media for their news diet, they are exposed to a myriad of sources, often lacking in editorial oversight and journalistic standards. This shift in consumption behavior has raised concerns about the quality and reliability of the information young people encounter, leading to questions about their ability to critically evaluate news content in a digital environment.

Moreover, the digital age has ushered in an era of information overload, where individuals are bombarded with a constant stream of news and updates from various sources. This saturation of information, coupled with the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation campaigns, has created a fertile ground for the proliferation of inaccuracies and falsehoods. In this context, the concept of media literacy becomes paramount, as it equips individuals with the necessary tools to navigate the complex media landscape and discern fact from fiction. However, traditional notions of media literacy must be expanded to encompass not only the ability to analyze media messages but also to critically evaluate the credibility of sources and identify potential biases.

The article underscores the importance of fostering media literacy and promoting responsible information dissemination as crucial components of a healthy democratic society. By empowering individuals with the skills to critically evaluate news content and discern credible sources from misinformation, societies can mitigate the spread of falsehoods and uphold the integrity of public discourse. Additionally, the article emphasizes the role of quality journalism as a cornerstone of democracy, highlighting the need for robust editorial standards and journalistic ethics in an increasingly digitized media landscape.

In recent years, the proliferation of digital platforms has revolutionized the way information is disseminated and consumed, particularly among younger generations. Social media platforms, in particular, have emerged as prominent sources of news for many young people, offering instantaneous access to a wide array of information and perspectives. While this unprecedented access to information has the potential to enrich democratic discourse and promote civic engagement, it also poses significant challenges in terms of information credibility and trust. As social media algorithms prioritize engagement and virality over accuracy and reliability, users are often exposed to sensationalized or misleading content that reinforces pre-existing biases and undermines trust in traditional media sources.

Furthermore, the prevalence of deliberate misinformation and disinformation campaigns has further eroded trust in the media, leading to widespread skepticism and uncertainty regarding the veracity of news content. In an environment where falsehoods can spread rapidly and unchecked, the need for media literacy education has never been more urgent. By equipping individuals with the skills to critically evaluate information and discern credible sources from misinformation, media literacy initiatives can empower citizens to navigate the complex media landscape and make informed decisions about the news they consume and share.

The article also highlights the role of traditional media outlets in fostering media literacy and promoting responsible journalism. Despite facing unprecedented challenges from digital disruption and declining trust in the media, traditional news organizations remain vital sources of credible information and investigative journalism. By upholding rigorous editorial standards and ethics, these organizations play a critical role in holding power to account and ensuring the integrity of public discourse. Additionally, traditional media outlets can serve as important allies in media literacy efforts, providing valuable resources and educational content to help audiences navigate the complexities of the digital information ecosystem.

In conclusion, the article advocates for a multifaceted approach to addressing the challenges posed by the evolving media environment, emphasizing the importance of media literacy education, responsible journalism, and public awareness campaigns. By equipping individuals with the tools to navigate the complexities of the digital age and fostering a culture of critical inquiry, societies can safeguard the integrity of their democratic institutions and ensure the free flow of accurate and reliable information. Ultimately, the pursuit of media literacy and responsible journalism is not merely a matter of personal empowerment but a collective endeavor to uphold the fundamental principles of democracy and safeguard the integrity of public discourse.

Medusa: Image of control of women suffering gender violence in sites of Cuiabá (Brasil)

Nara Assis dos Santos — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article is part of a master's degree research, which is in progress, in the adjustment phase that was suggested by the qualification committee, at the end of 2023. The main objective is to analyze how women who are victims of gender-based violence, whether in a domestic environment or public, are represented by the online press of Cuiabá, capital of the state of Mato Grosso (Brazil), based on journalistic articles published on the Olhar Direto and FolhaMax websites. It also aims to identify images of control of women who suffer gender-based violence in the articles published by the selected websites, understand how gender inequalities are present in articles about women who suffer gender-based violence, and reflect on the influence of agenda-setting processes, gathering and producing news. The methodology includes an intersectional perspective (Collins & Bilge, 2021; Carneiro, 2019), understanding that other markers, such as race and social class, interfere with how women are affected by gender-based violence. It also uses exploratory research (Bonin, 2010), essential for the corpus definition phase and identification of coding units and analysis categories. The research is structured on content analysis (Bardin, 2011) linked to control images (Collins, 2019; Bueno, 2020), considering that the categorization process needs to be intertwined with the concept of control images. This analysis is based on 40 articles from each website, corresponding to the periods from May 19 to 31, 2022 on FolhaMax, and from May 14 to 31, 2022, on Olhar Direto. This corpus was the amount categorized for presentation to the qualification panel. The search on the websites was done manually, based on the total history of articles published in the FolhaMax Police editorship and in the Cidades do Olhar Direto editorship, in the month of May 2022, which generated a pre-selection of articles that addressed cases of violence involving women. The links were saved in a Word file and went through a new filter when transferring the data to the Excel tables, aiming to organize the coding units. This filter occurred as a result of a more careful reading that led to the elimination of some articles that did not specifically deal with gender-based violence. In total, each spreadsheet (one for each site) has 25 columns that contain coding units, ranging from A to Y. Columns from A to E are reserved for the date of publication, editorship, title, hat, and caption. The others, starting from F to Y, are: Type of Crime, Identity of the Victim, Gender of the Victim, Age Range of the Victim, Race/Ethnicity of the Victim, Qualitative Characteristics of the Victim, Identity of the Suspect, Gender of the Suspect, Range Age of the Suspect, Race/Ethnicity of the Suspect, Qualitative Characteristics of the Suspect, Image, Passive Voice, Use of the Alleged, Motivation, Source, Signed Material, Gender of the Author, Links and Development. Based on the results found in the corpus of this article, I arrived at five categories of analysis. They are: predominant types of violence; treatment given to victimsThe general objective of this article is to analyze whether the practices and discourses that emerge from the participation of women in the cooperative Mujeres en acción (COMAC), Nicaragua, promote processes of autonomy in the collective and in their social relations. The specific objectives to achieve this were: to understand their meaning and the processes of learning and appropriation by the women involved; to examine the practices and discourses of the women their links and relationships outside the cooperative to understand how these influence their autonomy; to identify the factors that can hinder or promote the autonomy processes of the women, both within the cooperative and in their social environment; and finally, to determine the role of the different social actors in the projects and activities developed by the cooperative. Considering that the creation of cooperatives is evidence of women's interest in organizing themselves and subverting the order of the system, it appears as a way to gain autonomy, and to participate in their communities differently.

Using a qualitative methodology with a feminist approach, I explore the experiences of women in the cooperative and how these contribute to the development of individual and relational autonomy. I also situate this article in the relational approach to communication and from the interest of understanding how these relationships explode in autonomy, which in turn leads to participation, in having a different role in the community than the traditional normative gender roles, in decision making, and in the role that the cooperative plays in their lives. Between June and July 2022 I went to the community and through participant observation I was able to record the discourses of the women who are part of the cooperative that take place in informal conversations and/or in their meetings when they are in their familiar spaces. Four participatory workshops were also held to get to know the women who are members of the cooperative, addressing the projects carried out by the cooperative and the participation of the members in them, exploring the relationship of the cooperative with the community and the perception of integration of its members. Seven interviews were conducted, five with members of the cooperative and two with external persons, to deepen the topics discussed in the workshops and conversations, complementing the information with documents from the cooperative, technical reports, and opinion articles.

As part of the findings, members' perceptions of autonomy were explored, as expressed in terms of the right to participate, ownership of their assets, and the collective construction of meaningful projects. These experiences reflect how participation in the cooperative promotes autonomy in women's relationships, organization, and daily life. I also look at the importance of relationships for members and how, from a communicative perspective, these relationships can be seen as a process of knowledge production and learning, and how, in this way, the women of COMAC have found their autonomy in this fabric of relationships sustained by the affection of considering themselves sisters, in the trust of collective decision-making, and in the fact that, despite the existence of relationships mediated by power, supporting the cooperative gives them a new social role that allows them to negotiate and participate in community projects.

Finally, I would like to emphasize the importance of the cooperative, which touches all aspects of members' lives, from the domestic sphere to their participation in the cooperative, and is understood as an essential tool for exercising autonomy. Organizing on all fronts to have the freedom to decide what to participate in and what not to participate in, organizing to participate in the cooperative gives members a space where they can actively participate in decision-making, collaborate in the management of resources, and share knowledge and experience. The cooperative is understood as an organizational structure that promotes solidarity, strengthens cohesion, and enhances the empowerment of its members, allowing them to exercise their autonomy collectively and effectively, where the organization functions as a means to understand this structure.

The country's history is marked by an entrenched patriarchal system that has limited women's rights and opportunities over time. However, organizations such as the multisectoral cooperative Mujeres en Acción have emerged in response to these injustices, providing a space for rural women to unite, work together, and empower themselves economically.

Although the roles established by the patriarchal system have been perpetuated by forcing them to take on two jobs to be part of the cooperative, one at home and one in the cooperative, they value being able to take on a different role and have implemented strategies to better share the work at home and free up time to fulfill their role as members. And it is precisely by participating in the cooperative that they have found the autonomy that they did not have in their role at home.

This does not mean that they do not like to maintain these roles, on the contrary, they enjoy the possibility of having opportunities that they did not have before, such as the possibility of improving the quality of life of themselves and their families or having a productive activity that generates well-being and gives them power in the community to make better decisions that generate the common good and the good of the cooperative.

In this way, they recognize the cooperative as a space where they can strengthen their relationships, transform their lives, and achieve their individual and collective goals. In this way, autonomy is not a simple concept, but a discourse and practice rooted in daily life and born from the moment each woman decides to become a member.

Thus, contrary to what was expected in the context in which they lived, the collective organization, the shared work, and the relationships built through participation in the cooperative became powerful tools for their autonomy. In this way, they have not only learned to work the land, but they have also sown and today they are reaping their autonomy.

Agro-razilian women in the segmented media: A discursive weaving between gender and work

Wenya Alves Alecrim — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: This article aims to analyze the media social representation of women farmers in medium and large rural properties.

Materials and methods: Our research is primarily focused on analyzing the content of three editions of the TV program "Agroinspiradoras," which is broadcasted by Canal Rural. This analytical study employs a methodological framework that combines French Discourse Analysis with Social Representation theory, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the portrayal of women in agribusiness. Through meticulous examination, we explore the intersection between agro-feminism and the concept of inspiration, incorporating nuanced perspectives on entrepreneurship and neoliberal or elite feminism. Guided by the scholarly insights of Vander Casaqui, Dardot, and Laval, our analysis goes beyond surface-level interpretations to unravel the complexities of discursive formations, revealing them as manifestations of intricate social structures. Moreover, our theoretical exploration delves into Casaqui's sociological analysis and incorporates critical perspectives from Dardot and Laval, enhancing our understanding of power dynamics within the discourse. In essence, our research aims to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by women in agribusiness, while also highlighting the complexities of gender representation in media discourse. Through this comprehensive analysis, we seek to foster a more informed dialogue surrounding gender equality and empowerment within the agricultural sector.

Results: The analyses revealed that, despite the declared intention to address issues related to women and targeted at a female audience, fundamental aspects such as feminism are consciously avoided, being indirectly addressed in discussions. This evasion can be interpreted as an adaptive strategy to the specific circumstances of the agricultural environment, where the complexities of reality limit the open exploration of sensitive topics such as feminism.

Subsequently, the analyses of the discourse of the programs led us to understand that it is necessary to go beyond this initial stage and rethink the discourses both of the media and of rural women themselves in a broader sense. It is essential to reconsider the biased perspective, influenced by capitalism, which opens up too much space for large producers, but it is also necessary for these women to rethink who they are representing, with whom this discourse, familiar with liberal feminism, dialogues. Is it with a large part, or is it only with a part? Is it really necessary to "leave" others behind? Or to assume management and leadership positions and invite another woman (instead of highly qualified men) to stand together. It is necessary to rethink the "business culture in which agribusiness is inserted and "question the situation of women and the agendas they wish to embrace", this dialogue must also be in the media, through their voices. We must analyze with caution the capitalist perspective of profit of the companies and institutions that promote discourses on agro-feminism, evaluating whether their practices are socially committed and can bring benefits to social welfare. The path ahead is arduous, long, complex, and multifaceted.

We analyzed more broadly and significantly the trajectories of agro-women and their peculiar approach to gender issues. However, it is interesting to note that agro-women tend to avoid the term "feminism" or "feminist" in their narratives. Instead, they resort to the word "help" to express the importance of solidarity among women and highlight the "difficulties" they face as a way of addressing prejudice and inequalities. Instead of directly appropriating feminist discourse, this option can be understood as a strategy to avoid conflicts and not directly confront other hegemonically male structures. They are already inserted in agricultural communities and wish to maintain their position and influence within this context. By avoiding polarization and seeking cooperation, they seek to preserve their presence and impact in the agricultural sector, ensuring that their voices are heard and their demands are considered.

By recognizing and giving voice to this "agro feminism," the research broadens the understanding of feminism as a struggle that goes beyond urban borders and contemplates the experiences and demands of women in rural environments. This contributes to a more inclusive and comprehensive view of feminism, recognizing the multiple forms of resistance and the pursuit of gender equality that exist within the different realities of agro-women. Thus, the concept of "agro feminism" has emerged as an expression of empowerment and mobilization of women in agribusiness.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the analysis of the program "Agroinspiradoras" highlights a significant tendency to avoid explicit discussions about feminism, despite its clear emphasis on women in the agribusiness sector. While this strategic approach demonstrates sensitivity to the nuances of agriculture, it also recognizes the potential for transformative impact inherent in feminist discourse.

Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge that Casaqui's culture of inspiration actively promotes the recognition of inspiring female figures within agribusiness, underscoring the importance of representation in shaping societal narratives and aspirations. However, it is equally crucial to maintain a critical perspective, acknowledging the potential limitations and challenges associated with this approach.

Casaqui's theoretical framework emphasizes the significance of narrative construction in shaping social reality and influencing cultural perceptions. His concept of the "culture of inspiration" highlights the transformative power of storytelling in fostering positive role models and challenging traditional gender norms within the agribusiness domain. Additionally, Casaqui's approach underscores the role of media representation in amplifying the voices of women in agriculture, thereby contributing to the empowerment and visibility of marginalized groups. However, amidst this celebration of inspirational narratives, it is imperative to remain vigilant of potential pitfalls, such as the perpetuation of superficial stereotypes or the exclusion of dissenting voices, which could undermine the broader goals of gender equity and social justice in agribusiness.

We stress the necessity for ongoing, in-depth dialogue not only regarding women's representation in agriculture but also about the inherent limitations of the inspirational narrative. This constructive criticism aims to foster a more nuanced understanding of gender dynamics, promoting substantial changes towards a more inclusive representation.

Ultimately, our goal is to contribute to a more reflective dialogue about gender and female empowerment within the Brazilian agribusiness landscape.

The beginning of the Sendic case: Political-media scandal and Uruguayan social imaginary

Gastón Amen Rodríguez — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: This article analyzes the beginning of a political-media scandal that occurred in Uruguay and that resulted in the resignation of the then vice-president. For this purpose, the theory of Thompson (2001/2000) is used, who distinguishes between three kinds of political scandals: “sexual”, “financial” and “power”. One of the proposed objectives is to investigate the applicability of these categories to analyze this case and the possible relevance of complementary categories; the other is to contribute to the characterization of the contemporary Uruguayan social imaginary based on the analysis of media representations considered relevant at the beginning of this case.

Materials and methods: The corpus of analysis was elaborated through a theoretical sampling, based on the conceptualization of the temporal and sequential structure of media scandals raised by Thompson (2001/2000), on the analytical device proposed by Carlón (2020) for the study of the circulation of meaning in hypermediatized societies and on the criterion of “saturation” or “redundancy” (Valles, 1997). This includes, in the first place, a series of media events considered key at the beginning of this political scandal, all from February 24, 2016. These are: 1) The news published by the newspaper El Observador, that Sendic was not a Graduate in Human Genetics as he claimed to be. 2) The response of the Vice President's press secretary through a communiqué. 3) The publication on El Observador's website of a telephone conversation between a journalist of that newspaper and the vice-president in which the latter acknowledged that it was not a degree that he studied. 4) The press conference that Sendic gave in response to the news of his false degree. Likewise, a tweet from a radio program as well as a fragment of the same program are incorporated into the corpus, as “dynamic interpretants” (Peirce, 1987) illustrative of the media events of that day. To carry out the analysis, a qualitative methodology is adopted, which is located within the interpretative paradigm, from a Peircean semiotic perspective, with a special emphasis on its adaptation for the study of media communication (Andacht, 2013, 1996, 1992) and its articulation with the conceptualization of Castoriadis (Andacht, 1998; McNabb, 2008).

Results: The transgression of the vice-president denounced by El Observador and its first media repercussions are analyzed in the context of the Uruguayan semiotic “mentality” (CP 1.533). For this purpose, myths characteristic of modern Uruguay are taken as a reference and Castoriadis' (2013/1975) theory of the social imaginary is articulated with Peirce's (1931-1958) triadic semiotics. In this way, the following myths are taken into account: A) That of Uruguay as “a country of educated citizens” (Rial, 1986, p. 24), from which the secular, free, and compulsory nature of public education is claimed in the Uruguayan 'mentality' (CP 1.533). These ‘imaginary social meanings’ about education were taken up again as a “social counter-imaginary” (Rial, 1986) in the sixties by the Uruguayan left. B) That “of consensus, (...) of the impersonal law that imposes itself (...) myth of order, of respect for rules, myth of the maintenance of the rule of law” (Perelli and Rial, 1986, p. 23). This is a myth “characteristic of the Uruguayan political imaginary until 1970-1974 and which survives the rupture of the formal and informal political cultures of the 1970s” (Bayce, 1989, p. 14). C) The «myth of a country of proud humble people», based on Andacht's (1996) characterization of the phenomenon of “negative boasting”, which means “to boast about not doing it” (p. 34), a social practice instituted in the Uruguayan social imaginary: “If arrogance or demonstrating success and social or economic prominence are insurmountable taboos for the good mesocrat, modesty and negative boasting constitute irreplaceable virtues in this imaginary region” (p. 34). D) That of the exceptionality or differentiation of Uruguay (Real de Azúa, 2009/1964; Rial, 1986). This highlights the uniqueness of this country, based on its high social integration, its lower relative levels of violence, inequality, and illiteracy, as well as its early adoption of protective legislation for the subaltern sectors (Rial, 1986, pp. 22-23). The analysis shows how all these central myths of the Uruguayan social imaginary were transgressed by the vice-president, by boasting a non-existent university degree and claiming gold medals and academic success in a degree that does not even exist. It is also recognized that this scandal cannot be placed within the categories proposed in the typology elaborated by Thompson (2001/2000) and that it is necessary to propose a new one to account for it. It is proposed that of «mentalicidal scandal». This would be a type of scandal that implies the violation of the 'mentality' of a collectivity, understood in the Peircean sense as the Firstness of Thirdness (CP 1.533).

Conclusions: As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that at the origin of the fall of the vice-president lies the contravention of key axiological aspects of the Uruguayan semiotic 'mentality'. The transgression of these values explains the high negative impact of the false attribution of a university degree, even if it was not relevant for the performance of the vice-presidential office. The news exposed Sendic to a scandalous situation, accentuated by his unsuccessful counter-allegations based on “second order transgressions” (Thompson, 2001/2000), with the usual consequences of loss of prestige and symbolic capital. The need also arises to resort to a new concept to account for the case: that of «mentalicidal scandal», based on the Peircean conceptualization of the Firstness of Thirdness (CP 1.533), which accounts for those qualitative aspects that make up a shareable tone in a given society and at the same time singularize it. In this case, it is possible to describe the Uruguayan semiotic 'mentality' as the sphere of the positive valuation of the 'cultured' or educated, of respect for the rules of the instituted game, of the proud vindication of humility and the highlighting of Uruguayan exceptionality. All these aspects, which make the tone of mediation in this imagined community, were transgressed by Sendic and sealed his fate.

Journalistic transparency in Latin America: Analysis of scientific journals ranked in SJR

Kalianny Bezerra de Medeiros — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: Identify the presence, conceptualization, and debates about transparency in journalism in articles published in the region's top-ranked scientific journals, according to the SCImago Journal Rank index.

Materials and Methods: To investigate the presence, conceptualization, and debates surrounding journalistic transparency, we conducted a qualitative content analysis (Bardin, 2011) of research published in Latin American journals. We utilized the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) for the year 2022, an index that measures the impact and influence of scientific publications worldwide, and also identified 18 journals listed in the “communication” category in the Latin American region. We accessed the websites of each journal and selected those that accepted research on journalism within their scope, and thus, our sample was reduced to seven journals: Brazilian Journalism Research, Comunicación y Sociedad, Contratexto, Cuadernos.info, Discursos fotográficos, Palabra Clave, and Revista de Comunicación. Research on journalistic transparency has gained ground, especially since the 2000s (Craft, 2019). Therefore, to have a broader scope and better understand how this topic has been addressed and if there have been changes in its conceptualization or associated themes, we did not restrict a time frame and opted to search through all available editions on the journals' websites, including those available in the first half of 2023. First, we established that the titles, abstracts, and/or keywords of the texts should contain the reference terms “transparency” and/or “journalistic transparency”. Data collection took place between June 1st and 4th, 2023. After inserting the terms into the search fields of each journal, 138 documents were identified across the seven scientific journals. From these documents, a new selection was made to select only those texts that related transparency to the context of a journalistic organization and the practice of its professionals. A careful reading of each work's abstract was necessary. Therefore, 124 articles were eliminated that focused on discussing governmental or private company transparency (non-journalistic), or that addressed journalism's adoption of mechanisms for public agency transparency effectiveness – such as the Access to Information Law (Nº. 12.527/2011) in Brazil. The final sample consists of 14 articles.

Results: The first paper related to journalistic transparency, among the examined Latin American scientific journals, dates back to 2004. Over 19 years, from the identification of the first publication establishing a connection between transparency and journalistic practice, until 2023, when we verified the most recent paper, only 14 studies addressing the topic have been published. This initial finding indicates that academic production on the subject, in the most prestigious journals in the field of communication in this region, remains limited. Out of the 14 texts, it can only be observed that six (42.8 % of the publications) delve deeper into what is understood by transparency in journalism. Three of the texts are available in Cuadernos.info (Borrat, 2005; Freundt-Thuirne, 2005; Mauri-Rio et al., 2022) — two of which are published in a special edition on the topic of transparency in 2005 —, one in Brazilian Journalism Research (Maia, 2008), one in Comunicación y Sociedad (Ramon-Vegas et al., 2016), and another in Revista de Comunicación (Ramon-Vegas et al., 2020).

The other articles (Forni, 2004; Jarque-Muñoz & Almiron-Roig, 2008; D’Andréa, 2009; Gonçalves, 2012; Campo-Lozano & Chaparro-Domínguez, 2018; Rodrigues & Seibt, 2020; Antunes & Sebastião, 2020; Moreno-Gil & Salgado, 2023) treat transparency as a value, a practice, or a characteristic of journalism without delving into the complexities or issues that this matter may pose. In these cases, the term serves as an anchor for other topics to gain space in the debate on journalistic practice. The concept of transparency intersects with other themes related to journalism. These are intertwined topics that often overlap. Recognized by various researchers as a value, transparency emerges in works that evaluate ethical codes and discuss professional ethical challenges (Campo-Lozano & Chaparro-Domínguez, 2018; Antunes & Sebastião, 2020). Often placed alongside already established principles of journalism, such as objectivity, it is also mentioned as an intrinsic characteristic of digital journalism (Jarque-Muñoz & Almiron-Roig, 2008; D’Andréa, 2009; Ramon-Vegas et al., 2016). Additionally, transparency is also cited as an essential element for the operation of fact-checking agencies (Rodrigues & Seibt, 2020; Moreno-Gil & Salgado, 2023). The term is also indicated as a tool for media accountability and is associated with journalistic credibility (Ramon-Vegas et al., 2020; Mauri-Rios et al., 2022). Another explored connection is that of transparency and photojournalism (Gonçalves, 2012).

Conclusions: The results show that there is still room to expand and deepen the issues related to this topic. It should be noted that the scope of this research focuses on scientific journals indexed in the SCImago index, implying that our findings do not cover all studies conducted on this topic in the region. Despite this limitation, it is necessary to consider the relevance of the results obtained, which provide interesting observations for understanding transparency. Only 14 works were identified after searching through all publications made by the journals and available on their websites. We found three articles published between 2004 and 2005, indicating alignment with the movement to broaden research on transparency in journalism from the early 2000s (Craft, 2019). However, a progressive increase in publications on the topic in the following years cannot be confirmed. The reasons may vary, from a research culture focused on other journalism topics to influences derived from movements in journalistic newsrooms in the region. Although most of the analyzed works highlight transparency as an important value for journalism, especially in the digital context, there is no deepening on this topic. Even in papers where the concept of transparency is debated, the call for its use is always emphasized, without contextualization of the underlying logic and dynamics of its adoption. In this context, we emphasize that although it is present in research on various topics such as fact-checking, digital journalism, accountability, and photojournalism, transparency is always seen as synonymous with openness, which constitutes a perspective widely explored in studies on the subject. Despite that, it is crucial to highlight that other approaches have gained ground in addressing transparency (Karlsson, 2021).

Producing places and mapping experiences with photography

Débora Klempous — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Objectives: To understand how photography can be used in the symbolic appropriation of spaces by migrant and refugee women living in São Paulo. Emphasizing the particularities of smartphone photography, including its geolocation and circulation features when connected to GPS and the internet, we aim to reflect on the cartography and place-making resulting from this practice.

Materials and methods: Since this is a theoretical reflection, the methodology used involved a bibliographic review of topics relevant to the research. Key references include Tim Ingold's graphic anthropology (2012, 2015), the concept of situated visuality by Hjorth and Pink (2012), and the interconnection between online and offline cartography using the concepts of "informational territories" (Lemos, 2010), "networked locality" (Gordon & de Souza e Silva, 2012), and "interstitial space" (Santaella, 2008). The concept of place is understood as a weaving of lines (Ingold, 2015), a pause in movement (Tuan, 1983), and a mesh (Hjorth & Pink, 2014).

Results: This theoretical reflection has enabled the development of a methodology for using photography as a tool for self-awareness, visual education, citizenship promotion, and social inclusion. The goal is not technical instruction that stifles photographic practice but collective experimentation that transcends framing constraints. Previously discussed in another article, this approach starts with the understanding of one’s body as a territory and seeks to promote photographic production as a way of maintaining co-presence with other bodies, bringing awareness to space.

Conclusions: We understand that place, in photography, can be formed not only in materiality but also in the act of sharing images and their circulation through cyberspace. Freezing time is not the goal of this practice but rather extending it in duration or, in the case of maps created from photographs, fracturing time.