Media Competencies for the Citizenship Training of Teachers from Andean America: Colombia and Ecuador

In an increasingly saturated information and infoxicated world, Media Literacy emerges as a necessity for effective filtering of the vast amount of information we consume. The present research aims to quantitatively analyze the level of media competencies of Colombian(Medellin) and Ecuadorian (Loja and Zamora) teachers by means of the application of an adaptation of the taxonomy from the media competencies model, which consists of 6 dimensions and a total of 12 indicators. The total analyzed sample was comprised of 654 teachers from 81 public and private institutions. A data-gathering instrument was used with the aim of determining their level of media competencies from each of the dimensions. The results showed a low to medium level of media competency knowledge, which illustrated the need for priority interventions based on local, regional and international works, namely those that mobilize scientific, academic and political collaboration to improve the performance of a population that should lead the general training of citizens in media competencies.

Construction of War Discourse on International News Agencies: Case Study Terrorist attacks November 13th 2015

This study analyzes warmongering rhetoric presented by international agencies Reuters, Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera and Associated Press (AP) of the information related to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th, 2015 for 15 days after the event. We have started from a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 550 information units using the software MAXQDA (v. 11.0.11). Subsequently, the semantic criteria of media discourse: functionality, significance and direction of the goal was applied on the selected sample. The results demonstrate the prevailing demonization of Islam, the exaltation of fear and panic in the discursive construction and it highlighted the spectacle of the information as a communicative strategy on the rhetorical guidance.

Development of reading skills throught videogames: State of the art

This research analyzes the systematic linking of videogames in the processes towards the development of reading in the media and digital environment through the theoretical review. For this objective it was reviewed academic publications from international databases submitted between 2005 and 2016 related to the involvement of video games related on reading organized by school level, theoretical approach and research design. The results demonstrated its prevalence in secondary education basing its impact as an educational agent on changes in reading habits by opening a connection between readers and motivating of collaborative interaction. Likewise, the transformation of the process towards an oriented in- formation search and acquisition of reading comprehension skills. Following this argument, it concludes in favor of the inclusion of videogames in the educational curriculum focused on the development of reading in the digital and media context.

Dimensions and Indicators of the Information Quality in Digital Media

The current information ecosystem, crossed by a logic mediamorphosis, is increasingly generating the emergence of digital media and information portals that do not follow the formal publishing procedures of conventional media. The crisis of traditional media has also changed the way we become informed. However, information quality remains a factor for discussion in the absence of unified criteria for analysis. In this regard, the question arises: how do we evaluate and assess the quality of information in digital media? This study aims to seek agreement between academics and media professionals on the areas and dimensions of information quality of digital media according to objective or quantifiable values. For this, a taxonomy of the dimensions related to information quality was created, based on the review of scientific literature and further evaluated and validated by 40 experts, including scholars and media professionals alike, who focused on verifying the classification´s reliability. As a result, three macro areas of information quality, containing 21 areas, inherently comprised of a total of 75 dimensions, were validated. Lastly, this study proposes a structured model that will allow for the analysis of information quality of digital media, both in its pre-information phase catalogued in the media-business and on the media-workers’ socio-occupational characteristics, as well as its final product and informational content.

The economic disinformation in Spain: case study of BFA-Bankia and its IPO

The research this article is inscribed on comes from the belief that the current characteristics of the communications ecosystem generate the conditions for the occurrence of disinformation ploys due to informational insufficiency and partial information, abuse of fidelity to the source, the absence of interpretive and investigative journalism, and the incomprehensibility of the information. The main objective is to determine the relationship between the journalistic handling of information as the creator of socialized realities and dis-information, from the semantic analysis and interpretation of content based on the digital editions of 3 Spanish printed media of daily rotation (El País, ABC, and El Mundo), in retrospective to the listing in the stock market of BFA-Bankia (6th to 20th July 2011) and prospectively on the interval after ten consecutive days of losses (3rd to 17th May 2012). The main results show endogenous journalistic disinformation or poor handling of the financial information made public through the analyzed media existed due to the creation of positive expectations of the re-evaluation of the financial holding on the stock market. Meanwhile, the lack of investigative journalism, fidelity to official sources, and the language used in financial reporting in the media outlets mentioned above also contributed to the favorable scenario for disinformation.

Toward a taxonomy of newspaper information quality: An experimental model and test applied to Venezuela dimensions found in information quality

The quality of information from communication media is a topic that has been dealt with by various theorists through the analysis of the final products of information. This research work offers an analysis model of the quality of information of printed news media by the use of three indexes of categories and structured dimensions that will allow for the assessment and evaluation of the quality of information from the media, and the identification of the incidence of political-economic conditions of the journalistic environment’s macro-environment. For this, an experimental test of two Venezuelan media outlets was performed. Their use allowed us to conclude that political polarization and discourse of social confrontation, as well as economic factors such as inflation and pay scales had a proportionally direct effect on the quality of information products.