Observatorio (OBS*)

New Demands on Editorial Leadership: Perceived Changes in Swedish Newspaper Management

The last decades in the development of news production have accentuated the need for increased managerial skills among editorial leaders. This need is followed by discursive notions connecting management levels across sectors, including the sector of news production. The managerial ideology features globalization of values and economy in the labor market, as well as in the area of communication, and promotes streamlining of organizational models in line with a business thinking common to several industries. This kind of management ideology has implications for all levels of news work and, above all, emphasizes audience orientation to a further extent than before. Our article focuses on how editorial leaders in Sweden perceive their own role as leaders to be changing and why. It does so by drawing empirical support from a mixed methods design of three surveys of editors-in-chief in Sweden, conducted in 2005, 2010, and 2011. The result reveals that editorial leaders are strongly embracing values characterized by managerialism by bringing the key values of profit, efficiency, and leadership into the newsroom. They also perceive their managerial influence to have increased in the newsroom. As this kind of leadership is rather new to Scandinavian news media, the article discusses what kind of implications this new form of leadership may have for news organizations in facing new challenges.

Discourses of Heterosexuality in Women's Magazines' ads: Visual Realizations and their Ideological Underpinnings

This article aims to identify the discourses articulated in images of heterosexual ads published in women's magazines and their ideological underpinnings. It explores how heterosexuality is represented at a visual level, and examines the notions of femininity and masculinity, gender and sexuality that are constructed by the ads and the way they are intertwined. The main structures of the images are analysed within the framework of social semiotics, and from a critical feminist point of view. The analysis of hetero ads reveals the presence of heteronormative gender discourses and conventional representations of the hetero couple, as well as the presence of more 'permissive' discourses and representations concerning female sexuality. However, although some ads might slightly 'flirt' with female sexual transgression, this is done in a way that does not threat dominant conceptions of feminine heterosexuality. In conclusion, hetero ads still reinforce conventional heteronormative expectations regarding the relationship between sexuality and gender.

The representation of political deliberation in television: A comparative analysis of informative and infotainment programmes

Desde mediados de los años 90 nos encontramos en lo que J. Blumler y D. Kavanagh han denominado la "Tercera Edad" de la Comunicación Política, donde han convergido la emergencia de Internet y la televisión digital, el auge del infotainment y la creciente preocupación por el fenómeno de la desafección política. Frente a ello, resulta necesario revisar el papel que está jugando la televisión en esta nueva etapa de la comunicación política y, al mismo tiempo, adaptar nuestro instrumental teórico/metodológico a la nueva realidad televisiva y de la comunicación política. En este contexto, el objetivo de este artículo es aportar un modelo de análisis para el estudio de la construcción televisiva de la imagen pública de la deliberación política, concebido para un estudio integrado de programas informativos y programas de infotainment, y aplicarlo a los principales programas de la televisión española de la temporada 2009-2010, entre ellos Los Desayunos, Espejo Público, 59 Segundos y La Noria. Los resultados revelan las claves de representación del político como deliberador, la deliberación política y la ciudadanía en los programas analizados. En las conclusiones se destaca la escasa presencia en la televisión española de una deliberación política con un desarrollo orgánico que vaya desde una (sana) confrontación ideológica hasta la construcción de consenso.

According to J. Blumler and D. Kavanagh, since the mid nineties we are in the Third Age of Political Communication, where the emergence of Internet, digital TV and infotainment and the increasing awareness of political disaffection have converged. Therefore, it is necessary to review the role of television in this new era of political communication, and at the same time we need to adapt our theoretical and methodological tools to the new reality of TV and political communication. In this context, the purpose of this research is defining a model of analysis for the study of TV construction of the public image of political deliberation. It is a model conceived for the analysis of informative programs and infotainment programs as well. Moreover, the model of analysis is applied to the main programs of Spanish TV in the 2009-2010 season: Los Desayunos, Espejo Público, 59 Segundos and La Noria among others. In the conclusion we reflect on the scare presence of a political deliberation that goes from open ideological confrontation to the construction of consent in Spanish television.

Concepções e significados do empreendedorismo social no Brasil e em Portugal: crise, performance e bem comum

Este artigo tem como enfoque os significados culturais dos empreendedores sociais, em pesquisa comparativa entre Brasil e Portugal. Trata-se de parte de investigação mais ampla de pós-doutoramento, que objetiva compreender como os cenários sociais, o clima midiático e as situações econômicas influenciam a atribuição de valor e a produção de significados a esse ator social que vem unir duas facetas do capitalismo (o papel do empreendedor e a defesa da "economia social"), apontando para uma síntese que busca lugar nas projeções futuras do mundo do trabalho. Nesse sentido, analisamos o papel do empreendedorismo social na cooptação de quadros e na emergência de utopias planetárias enquadradas no sistema capitalista. O estudo envolve levantamento conceitual a partir da investigação realizada e análise dos discursos de organizações e projetos de empreendedores sociais, conforme a proposta teórico-metodológica da Análise de Discurso de linha francesa.

This article focuses in the cultural meanings of social entrepreneurs in comparative research between Brazil and Portugal. It is part of a broader post-doctoral investigation, that aims to understand how social scenarios, the media climate and the economic situations influence the allocation of value and production of meanings to this social actor that comes together two facets of capitalism (the role of the entrepreneur and the defense of "social economy"), pointing to a synthesis that seeks to place the future projections of the world of work. Accordingly, we analyze the role of social entrepreneurship in the capture of professional staffing and the emergence of planetary utopias framed in the capitalist system. The study involves conceptual survey from the investigation and discourse analysis of organizations and projects of social entrepreneurs, according to the theoretical and methodological proposal of French Discourse Analysis.

The predicament of Young Journalists: The study of Portugal

This article attempts to draw a portrait of young Portuguese journalists. Who are these young professionals dedicated to a profession which is in turmoil? The reasons for the instability of the sector are many and varied. We could mention the trend towards media concentration into business groups: the resulting mergers lead to diminish the importance of journalists, which in turn leads to contraction of the job market. An issue which is proving intractable is the job insecurity affecting mainly younger journalists - those who actually get the jobs, since there are large numbers of journalism graduates who run up against almost insurmountable barriers to make an entry into the profession. Power relations in the editing rooms are also changing. Relations with supervisors become impersonal, mediated by editors or managers who may not have an access to the board of directors. Within the profession, there are certain facets which differentiate one generation of journalists from another. The new information technologies also play an important role here: in addition to exponentially strengthening the dominance of time management, they completely transform communication models based on the traditional media. The role of the journalist becomes more elusive. In other words, the traditional mediating role of the journalist is disappearing.

Structures, Systems and Organizational Communication Processes in Franchises in times of crisis: the Spanish case

Current economic crisis together with the Internet revolution has had direct impacts on the franchise sector of Spain: in particular on its unique communication network. The aim of this research is to analyse how Spanish franchise companies have adapted to these changes through its corporate communications management. We want to determine whether the management of communications is ideal to the growth and consolidation of companies in the market. Corporate communications plans and organizational structures were analyzed to verify whether or not information technology (i.e. the use of the Internet) is maximized: the communications aspect being a critical area of company growth. We found that most franchise companies surveyed had adapted well to the changes in information technology, despite economic challenges. The Internet as a communications tool has been limited to its utility as a "bulletin board" for information. The marketing advantage of Internet communication, or its use as an avenue for customer exchange and exchange of goods and services has yet to be maximized. Future research may look into the details of how companies are able to maximize the communications-marketing advantage that Online/Internet can contribute to the franchise sector.

Journalists' perceptions about regulation and conflicts in their work: the case of Madrid-based news professionals

This study attempts to analyze how journalists from companies based in Madrid (Spain) perceive the main problems they face in their work and their views about media regulation. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, our research shows Madrid-based media professionals' perceptions about the conflicts and the obstacles they face in their daily work tend to be quite pessimistic. They emphasize the companies' need to achieve profits and the lack of ethical leadership at the management level as their main problems, and they also increasingly advocate for more external media regulation.

The representation of migration and the figure of the Other in the Spanish movie, Poniente (Chus Gutiérrez, 2002)

Las representaciones de la figura del inmigrante en el cine español habían sido esporádicas hasta el estreno de Las cartas de Alou (Montxo Armendariz, 1990) donde se le concede un papel protagonista. A partir de ahí el cine migratorio español cuenta con una serie de lugares comunes como la inestabilidad laboral, la clandestinidad, la inadaptación, el racismo, etc., que van construyendo el personaje del Otro. Estos aspectos no son nuevos, basta recordar las imágenes cinematográficas de la emigración española durante el franquismo. Tras un recorrido por las películas que configuran este imaginario se plantean dos cuestiones desde el ámbito cinematográfico: como las nuevas producciones contemplan una mayor variedad y complejidad en las relaciones entre las cada vez más diversas tipologías de pobladores y qué ocurre cuando el país de llegada, España, fue durante décadas el punto de salida de emigrantes. Para dar respuesta a estos interrogantes nos centraremos en la película Poniente (Chus Gutiérrez, 2002) y en las formulas que señala Eric Landowski para relacionarse con el Otro.

The immigrant-s shape portrayals in the spanish cinema scene had been sporadic until the premier of Las cartas de Alou (Montxo Armendariz, 1990) where it was given a main character role. As from that moment spanish migratory cinema has a whole series of clichés as unstable working conditions, secrecy, maladjustment, racism etc, that are going to build the Other's character. These are no new features as you only need to evoke the cinematographic images of spanish emigration during the Franco period. After looking through the films that make up this context, two questions raise from the cinematographic field. First of all we can see how the new productions provide for a greater variety and complexity in therelationships between the more and more diverse characteristic features of the settlers. Secondly, what happens when the immigrant arrival country,Spain in this case, was for many decades an emigrant country. To answer these question, we will focus on the film Poniente (Chus Gutiérrez, 2002) and on the guidelines that Eric Landowsky points out to relate to the Other.

O Novo Paradigma da Vigilância na Sociedade Contemporânea - "Who Watches the Watchers"

A vigilância é, nos dias de hoje, um fenómeno global, resultante de uma sociedade também ela cada vez mais global. Fenómeno amplamente difundido à escala mundial, é motivo e base de estudo de académicos de várias áreas, com vista ao entendimento da sua aplicabilidade nas sociedades contemporâneas. Este artigo tem como principal objetivo apresentar e discutir as principais Teorias de Vigilância em Ciências Sociais, analisar o Novo Paradigma da Vigilância e a sua disseminação na Sociedade em Rede. Com vista à contextualização do fenómeno da vigilância serão analisados os conceitos de "Poder", "Pânico Moral" e "Sociedade de Risco".

Surveillance is today a global phenomenon, resulting from an increasingly global society. Widespread phenomenon worldwide is cause and basis of academic study with a view to understanding its applicability in contemporary societies. This paper has as main objective to present and discuss the existing theories of surveillance in Social Sciences, analyze the New Paradigm of Surveillance and its dissemination in the Network Society. In order to contextualize the phenomenon of surveillance are analyzed the concepts of "Power", "Moral Panic" and "Risk Society".