Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2020

The foundation of the article is based on the notion that self-disclosure is one of the most significant factors of contemporary vernacular photography. Argued through conceptual analysis and real-life examples, the role of self-disclosure is analysed in relation to the somewhat institutionalized functions of vernacular photography: (1) preserving memories, (2) maintaining and creating new social relationships, (3) self-presentation and (4) self-expression. The article sheds light on the widespread use of cameraphones and how the role of self-disclosure differs notably within the four chosen functions, since its absence among private photographs contributes to personal and unique memories; and within shared photographs, it defines how people want to be seen by others and themselves. The benefits and challenges of private and shared photography are also evaluated.

There are few empirical studies on the cultural consequences of social movements. This article contributes to alleviating this problem, examining the cultural outcomes produced by the action of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), one of the most important social movement organizations to appear in Spain in the 2010s. Concretely, through qualitative methods, we analyse the content and form of the PAH’s discourse and the communicative practices developed to disseminate it to the population. Following, we examine this diffusion using quantitative methods. The article shows that PAH activists produced a discourse with a form and content that sought to achieve alignment with the common sense of the majority of the population, that their communicative practices took advantage of the opportunities offered by social and mass media, and, lastly, that the PAH’s diagnosis and proposals resonated among a majority of the population.

Nowadays, Twitter is used by politicians to communicate directly with citizens, due to the Internet’s ability not only to inform, but to establish a dialogue and mobilize publics. The present research explores the use of Twitter as a medium of communication and debate in the rise of the Catalan independence movement. To attain this objective, the official profile of the Generalitat’s ex-president Carles Puigdemont is studied during the month before the referendum date. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of his tweets, it is observed if he seeks to mobilize the audience, as well as influence their opinion on the right to decide, and their voting intention. In addition, we aim to approach the response he obtains from the social audience. Based on citizens’ reactions to his tweets, the research analyses these users’ impressions; whether they support the separatist theses, and if the consequent debate entails a tone of rupture or tension.

Broadcasting journalists use short, ad hoc interviews for newsworthy events. Because these interviews typically last for just a few minutes, it is a challenge for both journalist and interviewee to address the audience. This study explores journalistic questioning techniques in sixteen live broadcast interviews with athletes carried out by Estonian journalists during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games plus a few examples from sports interviews collected from the Spanish, Italian, Finnish, German and American television. Analysis shows the questioning technique of journalists does not help interviewees to provide well-focused and interesting explanations. The main problems are related to the scope of the questions, blurred focus and the journalists’ inability to use listening-based questioning. As a result of the analysis, we propose a universal model that would help journalists in any field (not just sports journalism) to carry out better ad hoc questioning.

Interactivity is among the main characteristics of online journalism because it helps to build bridges between the media, journalists and the users to whom the news is directed. This article, based on in-depth interviews with 35 journalists, examines the concept of interaction as understood by media sources in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. These three countries are culturally and historically similar and have similar levels of Internet access. Most of the journalists indicated that they have adjusted their practice to incorporate some aspects of Internet-based interaction, such as social network presence and increased transparency to users. However, the media organizations for which they work have adopted few such procedures and maintain limited capacity to manage online participation. The journalists expressed their desire for the development of further ways to facilitate interaction with users.

This study explores the relationship between social media influencers and the online identity of Egyptian youth. The context of this study is Egypt, a developing country in the Arab World which underwent a nation-changing revolution in 2011. Its youth, who represent around 60 per cent of the population, were one of the most impacted groups in the society. They are the heaviest users of social media and represent the biggest number of fans for influencers. The research question focuses on the relationship between social media influencers and the construction of the online identity of their youth fans. The research question is addressed through semi-structured in-depth interviews with nine social media influencers and eighteen of their fans. The analysis revealed that influencers play an indirect role in their fans online identity negotiation and construction.

This viewpoint discusses the various definitions given to classic film noir in order to show how the concept of film noir is difficult to demarcate as a genre, remaining a debatable subject among theoreticians. On a broader level, it might be argued that these discussions are linked with the intertextuality, the dynamism and the hybridity of film genres. One can also argue that film noir stands as one of the preliminary examples of such hybridity in the history of Western narrative cinema. Such a debate is also connected to film noir’s deviance from Hollywood conventions. While inhabiting elements from these conventions, classic noir has been affected by European film movements whilst influencing them. Noir holds a critical position to the social conditions of its era, defined usually from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. It also produces generic stereotypical characters such as the ‘hardboiled’ detective and the femme fatale that are both embraced and highly criticized by film theoreticians. However, film noir is an ambivalent concept, a category of films that can be sensed, yet resists delimitation within strict boundaries.

Review of: Raymond Williams: Cultural Analyst, J. McGuigan (2019)

Bristol: Intellect Books, 185 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78938-047-7, p/bk, £22.50

Review of: Usos políticos de la metáfora. Medios, instituciones y ciudadanía en la definición de conflictos en la esfera pública, A. Capdevila Gómez and C. Moragas-Fernández (eds) (2019)

Barcelona: Icaria, 184 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-49888-931-4, p/bk, €18

Review of: Mutaciones discursivas en el siglo XXI: la política en los medios y las redes, N. Pellisser Rossell and J. M. Oleaque Moreno (eds) (2019)

Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 391 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-41770-623-4, p/bk, €25