The Gender Gap in Journalism. Characteristics and Perception

Journalism is an activity that does not escape the gender gap. Despite progress in equality in recent decades, the analysis of women in media newsrooms show data even today that prove differences between men and women. Within this context, this study aims, on one hand, to characterise the main indicators revealing the gender gap in the profession and, on the other, to discover the opinions of acting professionals in this regard. To this end, a survey was conducted with 522 workers in news media in the Basque Country. Firstly, the results corroborate the existence of a wage gap and a significant difference in holding positions of responsibility in the media. Furthermore, the data collected indicate a second gap, the perception of the influence of gender in developing a professional career. In general terms, this concerns professional women to a much greater extent than men, a concern that is reaffirmed by how the data on the professional situation corroborate these perceptions.

Comunicación política, institucional y medios de comunicación en tiempo de pandemia. Análisis del diálogo sobre vacunas en cinco países iberoamericanos

El actual contexto mediático se caracteriza como un sistema híbrido en el que los viejos y los nuevos actores coexisten y, a la par compiten, por su hegemonía en la esfera mediática. En este contexto, el Covid-19 ha generado una “infodemia” o sobreexposición informativa que ha dificultado el acceso de la ciudadanía a fuentes y orientación fiables. Por ello, el objetivo principal de este artículo es caracterizar a los actores políticos, institucionales y mediáticos que han informado en Twitter sobre las vacunas y los procesos de inmunización durante la pandemia del Covid-19 en cinco países iberoamericanos: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, España y México. Para ello se han analizado un total de 68.822 tuits procedentes de 84 cuentas pertenecientes a los presidentes del país, las cuentas oficiales de los gobiernos, las autoridades sanitarias y sus portavoces, y los principales medios de comunicación. Los resultados indican que la actividad más intensa y el peso informativo lo han llevado las autoridades sanitarias y los medios, aunque las cuentas personales de los portavoces y representantes políticos han logrado un engagement mucho mayor. A pesar de que la interacción de las audiencias ha sido mayoritariamente positiva, los usuarios más activos han cuestionado de forma generalizada los mensajes publicados, en especial los de los representantes políticos. Estos resultados permiten concluir que en el sistema comunicativo híbrido medios y gabinetes institucionales muestran una capacidad similar de difundir mensajes a través de las redes sociales que generan una recepción favorable, aunque en el caso de los representantes públicos el engagement, y también la polarización, son mucho mayores.

Current affairs on TikTok. Virality and entertainment for digital natives

Since its appearance in 2018, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms among digital natives because of its algorithm-based engagement strategies, a policy of public accounts, and a simple, colorful, and intuitive content interface. As happened in the past with other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, various media are currently seeking ways to adapt to TikTok and its particular characteristics to attract a younger audience less accustomed to the consumption of journalistic material. Against this background, the aim of this study is to identify the presence of the media and journalists on TikTok, measure the virality and engagement of the content they generate, describe the communities created around them, and identify the presence of journalistic use of these accounts. For this, 23,174 videos from 143 accounts belonging to media from 25 countries were analyzed. The results indicate that, in general, the presence and impact of the media in this social network are low and that most of their content is oriented towards the creation of user communities based on viral content and entertainment. However, albeit with a lesser presence, one can also identify accounts and messages that adapt their content to the specific characteristics of TikTok. Their virality and engagement figures illustrate that there is indeed a niche for current affairs on this social network.

University teaching experiences with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Promoting transversal competencies in online journalism

This article analyzes one case of university teaching innovation in the field of online journalism through multimedia journalistic projects linked to the UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These projects aim to develop Transversal Competencies (TC) useful for emotional, creative training and for creating enterprising future journalists. The outcomes of this innovative training experience were obtained from surveys (n = 158) carried out among the participating students and from classroom observations. The conclusions discuss the reach and implications of this teaching experience, which hopes to be of use for future applications of SDGs in other journalism and communication subjects.This article analyzes one case of university teaching innovation in the field of online journalism through multimedia journalistic projects linked to the UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These projects aim to develop Transversal Competencies (TC) useful for emotional, creative training and for creating enterprising future journalists. The outcomes of this innovative training experience were obtained from surveys (n = 158) carried out among the participating students and from classroom observations. The conclusions discuss the reach and implications of this teaching experience, which hopes to be of use for future applications of SDGs in other journalism and communication subjects.

Fewer and later. Women as experts in TED Talks about COVID-19

The dissemination of science has undergone a major upsurge in recent years thanks to the Internet, which has served to overcome many of the technical and economic barriers. Among the many initiatives, one of the most successful tools has been the TED Talks website. At the same time, various studies indicate that women produce less science dissemination content and that they are also more likely to receive hostile comments. The objective of this research is to analyze from a gender perspective the content published on the TED Talk website on COVID-19 from 1 March 2020 to 31 March 2021 (n = 62) to determine its characteristics and the topics addressed, as well as the resulting engagement and the predominant feelings of the comments received. To do this, a content analysis of the publications has been carried out, as well as a qualitative analysis of the comments. The results indicate that the percentage of women experts on this platform is slightly lower than that of men (42.19%), and they have published content in later phases of the pandemic. From a qualitative point of view there are also differences, since women mainly opt for a social, political and social approach to the issue. In addition, the engagement of their publications is lower than that of men, although a higher prevalence of negative feelings is perceived in the comments they receive.