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

This paper reflects on the medium sized city as an object of study, under a socio-spatial approach tending to suggest suitable theoretical-methodological guidelines. This reflection seeks to help researchers interested in this object, because it is a recent and in process of construction concept. To achieve this objective, the reflection has been developed through three categories of analysis. The first one deals with the concept of medium sized city, exposing the reason for its scientific interest, its conceptual instability, the possibility of being studied comparatively and its close link with the urban network. In the second one, the socio-spatial approach is presented as a theoretical foundation to address the study of the medium sized city, based on its breakdown into five closely linked basic attributes (biotic, social, economic, political and housing). In the third one, a methodological structure composed of a critical combination of methods oriented to socio-spatial analysis is suggested. The main contributions of the reflection have to do with the idea that, on the basis set forth, the instability of the concept ceases to be an obstacle for its study, enabling the profit of strengths of the medium sized city such as territoriality and proximity, and of opportunities such as governability. At a theoretical level, it is evident that the definition of the medium sized city is contextual, since it can only be defined as part of the urban network and, to adapt it to specific research purposes, it must be supported by "sociospatiality", due to the variations of the study area from where someone is looking at. This approach contributes to the identification of basic urban attributes, facilitating the definition of variables. The reflection shows that the main methods for its study are not premised on the choice of a quantitative or qualitative line, but a combination that, tentatively, could include: comparative analysis, "expanded" field work, historical contextualization and characterization, interviews, remote monitoring, density measurement, statistical analysis, and mapping and modeling. These contributions are important due to the territorial weight of medium sized cities in the general composition of the urban population. Such transcendence allows increasing the social utility of geographic research through the improvement of land management and public policies, by facilitating decision-making.

The text comes up from debates about national conjuncture and also revisits some authors who discuss democracy, carrying theoretical conceptions built over time, showing its multifaceted character and its polissemical conception. Based on the idea of the three essential predicates of Przeworski’s democracy, the text offers visibility to the democratical crisis we now experience in Brazil, starting from some empirical data, reflected and based on contemporary authors who defend a popular democracy. The urgent defense of basilar concepts of democracy associated to continuous studies about life and times of a new society project is related in the text. Besides, the text informs the necessity of formation of critical minds which mobilize a new national block. This block should be able of provoking an advance directed to a new modality of democracy that materialize itself further to a democratic rule-of-law state and that pervads working-class life.

Resumen:Aunque el cambio climático es un fenómeno natural en la Tierra, la sociedad actual se enfrenta a un calentamiento global sin precedentes. La modificación del clima planetario, motivado principalmente por actividades humanas, podría tener impactos ecológicos, económicos y sociales. Esta situación plantea la necesidad de discutir el impacto de los factores psicosociales en la conducta proambiental y sostenible de los grupos humanos.Objetivo: Explorar las creencias de las personas de una comunidad universitaria respecto al cambio climático y descubrir si existe una relación entre estas creencias y el comportamiento proambiental.Métodos de investigación: Estudio exploratorio mediante encuesta a una muestra (n=135) de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile y revisión bibliográfica.Resultados: Los resultados demuestran que los encuestados son capaces de comprender cognitivamente los riesgos del calentamiento global, pero muestran baja proporción de comportamiento proambiental. En la revisión bibliográfica, se concluye que las personas adoptan conductas proambientales cuando están suficientemente informadas sobre los temas ambientales, tienen actitudes positivas hacia ellos y se sienten empoderadas para generar cambios cualitativos, efectivos y que no les generen mayores dificultades posteriormente. Originalidad/Valor del artículo: Este artículo proporciona una perspectiva relacional entre las percepciones del cambio climático y el comportamiento proambiental en una muestra universitaria. Basándose en esta relación se hacen propuestas para implementar programas educativos en diversos niveles.Palabras clave: calentamiento global, comportamiento proambiental, sociedad, sustentabilidad 

This study examines the prevalence of emotional appeals in COVID-19-themed brand advertisements from around the world in the months immediately following the World Health Organization’s declaration of the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. The study analyses the frequencies of use of positive and negative emotional appeals in the content of the ads, and concurrent combinations of such appeals. A content analysis was conducted on a sample of 376 ads from the “Ads of The World” digital archive. The results reveal a preference for positive emotions, with nurturance and affiliation being the most frequent. Sorrow was the third most preferred emotional appeal, and the most used negative emotion. Some brands have compared the virus to a hurricane (Brazil), an assassin with a chainsaw (US) or the death personified (Peru). Advertisers should be careful when using negative emotional appeal content during COVID-19. According to the law of apparent reality, during times of stress the recommendation is to be cautious with negative emotions, as they may be felt more intensely by consumers. Advertising has a social responsibility, which can be directed at promoting consumer behaviours that leave a positive or negative impact on their communities. In a situation such as the pandemic, brand communication professionals must use emotions rigorously, employing this resource to contribute to society, avoiding giving rise to harmful attitudes or behaviours. The research findings are consistent with the literature and lead to future examination of emotional appeals in advertising in stressful and uncertain circumstances.

At a time of crisis in news media organizations, with changes in the world of work occurring in different regions, a significant number of newsrooms have been affected by the mass firing of journalists. Multiple layoffs can be understood as part of a broader process of organizational change that is linked to deterioration in the working conditions of media workers and a transformation of journalistic modes of production. To understand the processes of organizational change in news organizations with multiple layoffs, this critical case study of news organizations in a western Mexican city relied on the analysis of data from multiple sources of information. It was found that the processes deriving in multiple layoffs do not develop homogeneously, but take shape according to context-specific characteristics such as, in the Mexican case, the institutional fragility of journalism and the uneven protection of rights across the territory. The collected data set illustrates how the processes of downsizing, convergence and precarization ⎼commonly studied separately⎼ may occur simultaneously and in an integrated fashion. Specific interplays of global and local trends found in this case study include pressure from governments and lack of tools for claiming labor rights.

Recent technological advances have significantly impacted news media in the way they provide news to the public, evolving into a digital environment. Therefore, digital media today focuses on generating readers’ loyalty to their news websites. In this sense, a multiple linear regression analysis was carried out on a sample of 344 surveys of adult residents in the cities of Mexico and Monterrey. The results show that factors such as familiarity, satisfaction and reputation are positively related to the loyalty of news website users. However, they also show that the importance of the impact of these factors is different when the analysis is carried out in a stratified manner, such as residence, gender or education, which allows us to conclude that digital media can guide their loyalty efforts depending on the profile of their readers and the market they seek to target. To illustrate focusing on stratification by place of residence, the most significant factors for the Mexico City group corresponded to familiarity and satisfaction, wile for the Monterrey group the most significant factors were reputation and familiarity in that order. Results with this type of differences between groups were also obtained when comparing by gender and schooling. It is recommended for future research on the subject, to include other cities within the country, with the purpose of contrasting these paper’s findings.

Against the backdrop of the new attention economy (Giraldo-Luque & Fernández Rovira, 2020), which is based on attracting audience interest, this research analyses the production and distribution of media content through the emerging Telegram platform. Attracting the attention of the audience has become the main objective of the media in the digital environment. To achieve this aim, more personalised content is now being produced, and attempts are being made to reach the user in a more direct and personal way through instant messaging platforms, especially Telegram. Through a methodology based on data triangulation, documentary analysis, interviews, registration techniques, analysis sheets, as well as direct and indirect observation (Fernández-Ballesteros, 2004), this study addresses the rise of Telegram in journalism, in addition to the way in which the Spanish media distribute, produce, and use the information, as well as interaction with the audience. To this end, a strategic sample has been used, the results of which are applicable to the media analysed. The results of this research show that nearly half of the media analysed produce content and inform the user without considering interaction, while others try to approach the user with language that is informal and friendly, or through multimedia content such as videos, emoticons, and others. The media have suddenly appeared on Telegram in search of new market niches where they can produce content for new users, thereby pursuing the rationale of the attention economy.

It is vital to understand the nature of misinformation disseminated online regarding the COVID-19 vaccination. This understanding will enhance governments’ efforts and strategies to combat the factors which hinder vaccine uptake. Vaccine hesitancy has always been a challenge which has accompanied vaccine rollouts. Misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, along with the ambiguous narratives around the origin of the virus, has played a role in vaccine hesitancy among Jordanians. The online activity generated by social media during the pandemic, due to people’s fear of the virus, their general anxiety and curiosity, and their desire for updates, made social media an even more fertile environment for misinformation than ever before. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan, misinformation on social media platforms amplified the scale of fears around the safety of the vaccination programme. Therefore, this study offers an exploration of, and insight into, the thoughts and experiences of a sample of 30 Jordanian citizens who are hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination. This study uses a qualitative approach in order to further understand vaccine hesitancy and the nature of misinformation surrounding it, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with participants. It found that low levels of information about health, misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine, and the spread of misinformation on social media were all causes of vaccine hesitancy in Jordan. Facebook and WhatsApp were the principal social media networks identified in this study as spreading misinformation about the vaccine. The study sample reported that they believed in the conspiracy theories discussed on these two platforms. Furthermore, videos of influencers and anti-vaccination medical doctors from overseas played a part in misleading individuals regarding inoculation against COVID-19. Additionally, other factors were also identified and are discussed in this study.

How much do the performances of top candidates in televised debates affect vote intentions in parliamentary democracies? The article addresses this question and disentangles the effects of predisposition and performance in televised debate reception. Drawing on a large-N field study of the 2017 chancellor duel in Germany, which contains survey and real-time response data for 5660 participants, we identify debate-induced determinants of shifts in voting intention and assess their relative effect sizes on such changes. Our analysis shows, first, that out-party identification is an effective barrier against shifts in voting intentions. However, we find that viewers’ real-time performance perceptions of the candidates show strong effects. Third, we demonstrate that these real-time evaluations can breach the predisposition’s barrier particularly when the intensity of out-party identification is less than very strong. Fourth, we find verdicts on the debate winner as an additional short-term factor that can foster shifts in voting intentions in the course of debate reception. Overall, our results indicate that pre-dispositions may hinder rational updating of electoral behaviour but that debate performance can actually make a difference by altering the formation of voting intentions.