Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Advertising on the web has taken new forms (Malin, 2011; Susarla, Oh & Tan, 2012). In this context, videos which appear playful but which have an advertising objective, have positioned themselves as the new trend (Craig & Duncan, 2017; Marsh, 2015) and have penetrated the web space for an increasing number of Internet users, particularly among children (Davies, Coleman & Livingstone, 2014). However, the type and variety of videos with advertising intention that YouTube leads users to when searching for generic audiovisual content for children’s audience is unclear. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to analyze the content and visuals present in undercover advertising videos from a sample of 143 videos prompted by the keywords Soy Luna, a popular Disney Channel series. The main findings are that three types of sources provide this type of content, namely official channels, YouTubers channels devoting space to the series and its merchandising, and to a greater extent toy exhibition channels. Also, the format appearance and characteristics of the videos make it difficult for users to tell them apart from advertising, as they introduce a novel narrative, incorporate playful twists and appear to be associated to the series. These features go beyond the use of YouTube standardized advertising formats, such as graphic ads, overlays or advertising spots which can be skipped.

The films produced during the political transition to democracy in Spain continue to capture the interest of film analysts and historians. However, beyond the realm of fiction films, there are still many areas that have received little attention, such as the attempts to develop newsreels for cinemas once the monopoly of the Francoist No-Do newsreels had ended. This study focuses on the Noticiari de Barcelona newsreel series produced between 1977 and 1980, specifically analysing its content and its discourse. The importance of this newsreel series lies in three main factors: because it constituted one of the first steps towards the development of a Catalan film industry after the end of the dictatorship (in the midst of a debate in Spain over the need to establish autonomous film industries for each of the country’s different regions); because of the attempt it constituted to establish a local audiovisual news product in clear opposition to the No-Do newsreels; and because of its adoption of some of the themes, discursive strategies and objectives attributed to many of the independent political films of the period. All of these factors determined the content and discourse of the newsreels, and gave them an orientation that was more persuasive than strictly informative.

This work presents the results of a research aiming to analyze the presence of the four cardinal points of the cyberspace (hypertextuality, multimedia, interactivity and updating) in the Spanish political parties’ websites. These parameters determine the effectiveness of the communication in a web space, and until what extent political formations use them to connect with their audiences in the digital environment. To achieve this goal, an analysis of the content of the websites of the political groups with parliamentary representation has been carried out. The results confirm the absence of tools and resources related to these characteristics in the web spaces under study. The use of hypertext, beyond its simpler structure, and the use of multimedia elements is scarce. The possibilities of interaction between different users and political parties are minimal. The information published and the level of updating of the contents is insufficient. The conclusions allow us to affirm that there is a lack of exploitation of the possibilities offered by the web to promote communication and interaction with users by different political groups.

The purpose of this study is to explore the narrative strategies used to communicate the horror genre in the scripts of Laika studios and to investigate both the extent to which they contribute to imbuing the genre with a unique character in aesthetic and dramatic terms within mainstream animation cinema and the role they fulfil within the framework of their thematic approaches. To this end, a textual analysis of the studio’s productions was conducted for Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009), ParaNorman (Chris Butler & Sam Fell, 2012), The Boxtrolls (Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi, 2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight, 2016). The analysis was based on the knowledge categories proposed by Jule Selbo’s (2010) study on the creation of a mental space for the genre. The categories are divided into schematic, specific, and relevant knowledge. Finally, this study demonstrates how the tactics of the horror genre used in these films have enabled a different view of common themes in family-oriented Hollywood animation by communicating a stark image of the family and growing up. Although this image is not transgressive, it is certainly innovative by virtue of its thematic content, in which warnings against romanticising reality abound.

This article focuses on otherness in the field of communications studies, within the social context of generalized mediatization. We argue that, on one hand, the new organizational dimension of communication, mediatization, based on information hybridism (Sodré, 2014), turns communication into a form of knowledge that is decisive for societal functioning. Yet, on the other hand, insofar as it integrates communication within information regimes –in particular, speed flows– mediatization seems to challenge the constitution of epistemological otherness within this field of knowledge. As a space in which synergy among different social fields is created, mediatization not only amplifies the discursive contiguity of knowledge-production and professional spheres, but also establishes the absence of duration as a common institutional premise. This phenomenon points to the retreat of time as a space of difference. Within the new regime of temporality, based on the virtual acceleration of time, a significant portion of communication theories seem to appear without any type of virtuality. In epistemological terms, one of the most acute consequences of dismantling time, as a space of intelligibility, is the constriction of the principle of autonomy that, at one time, more thoroughly grounded different fields of knowledge, especially within the humanities. Hence, the hermeneutic horizon becomes crucial to the development of social sciences. As a residual condition of discursive autonomy, hermeneutic resources shape an alignment of time and knowledge. In the end, understanding continues to constitute an existential quality

This article gives a historical perspective on the route traced by women investigators in Hollywood audiovisual narrative. The starting point and main focus of the thrilling detective story at the heart of the enigma regarding being a woman is the character of Lila Crane (Hitchcock’s Psycho, 1960). The split structure of this horror film masterpiece, defined by literary reviews as a classic example of a tale of modernity, offers a subversive view of women’s issues in audiovisual discourse. To assess the audiovisual legacy of Lila, we selected a series of audiovisual texts which draw attention to a cultural dialogue with this modern character. A two-fold trend can be seen in these references: the confrontation between a progressive audiovisual narrative and a retro-narrative aimed at restraining the progress of this rule-breaking archetype.

The current context and changes in the communicational paradigm in the last ten years lead to think we are experiencing a moment of transition that entails the end of mass media, like different studies have concluded. Among them, the most vulnerable product is the printed newspaper, which disappearance generates few doubts. However, immersed in this moment of change, we cannot yet evaluate what means to lose a journalistic model that has prevailed for over two centuries and a half as informational reference. From this perspective, the province of Cuenca, in Castile-La Mancha, one of the two in Spain which today no longer has a printed newspaper, offers us a unique scenario to approach what kind of medium positions as leader in its place. Using a mixed methodology, based on the review of documentary sources and contents analysis, we analyse a case study that aims to collect tendencies regarding proximity media. In this case, the switching from one platform to another has devaluated very relevant journalistic genres, such as the photo news or the editorial, but also some core practices in the journalism, like the editing task on the material that arriving to the editorial offices.

This article explores the application of the concept of transmedia narrative to the construction of the public image of political figures, in a media context characterised by the prevalence of infotainment and the dissolution of the boundaries of political content. To attain this objective, a case-study on a specific leader is carried out; he is a regional leader recognised at a national level thanks to his discursive strategy: president of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, chosen for his role as a regular guest on T.V shows of all kinds, as well as for having become the third most followed Spanish politician on social networks. Through content analysis, we examine the character’s own performance on different media (television, social networks and an autobiographical book) along with the reactions provoked among the cybernauts. The results show a multiplatform narrative adapted to the specific formal language of each of those media and formats, constantly maintaining the application of politainment features (personalisation, entertainment, emotiveness and trivialisation of the issues). Regarding the effects, there is a high level of involvement and a love-hate dichotomy among the public, as proved in social networks. Consequently, in the transmedia political narrative (TPN) the users co-create the resulting image of the politician who is finally perceived by the audience. In addition, the success of Revilla’s communication strategy is verified via ensuring that the self-assigned values in his speech, such as leadership and closeness to the people, match those that the audience identify with his figure.

This paper studies the presence and reproduction of the ‘prohibitionist’ paradigm in the Chilean state’s drug policy by studying its drug abuse prevention campaigns. By means of a content analysis of the television spots broadcast between 2004 and 2014, the discursive and ideological elements present in these campaigns were examined. First and foremost, the results show that, despite institutional change and the creation of bodies such as the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Drug and Alcohol Use (SENDA) and the National Council for Narcotics Control (CONACE), the state’s discourse has remained focused on the prohibitionist paradigm, resorting to highly stereotyped emotional messages. Secondly, drug consumption has been stigmatised and framed in profoundly dramatic contexts in which users belong to the criminal underworld or have physical and/or cognitive impairments. Thirdly, notwithstanding the fact that there are certain differences between the communication approaches employed by the SENDA and the CONACE, the discourses of both institutions are very uniform and reductionist. In order to design more efficient media campaigns, target audiences should be encouraged to analyse and ponder reflectively on the issue by conveying rational messages that contrast facts and data and offer a positive vision stressing the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.