Examining research patterns across scientific fields constitutes a growing research enterprise to... more Examining research patterns across scientific fields constitutes a growing research enterprise to understand how global knowledge production unfolds. However, scattered empirical evidence has casted light on how the publication diversity of the most productive scholars differ across disciplines, considering their gender and geographical representation. This study focuses on the most prolific scholars across three fields (Communication, Political Science, and Psychology), and examine all journals where they have published. Results revealed the most common journals in which prolific scholars have appeared and showed that Communication scholars are more prone to publish in Political Science and Psychology journals than vice-versa, while psychologists' largely neglect them both. Our findings also demonstrate that males and US scholars are over-represented across fields, and that neither the field, gender, geographic location, or the interaction between gender and geographic location has a significant influence over publication diversity. The study suggests that prolific scholars are not only productive, but also highly diverse in the selection of the journals they publish, which directly speaks to both the heterogeneity of their research contributions and target readers.
Recent changes in the media environment make it easier than ever for people to actively shape the... more Recent changes in the media environment make it easier than ever for people to actively shape their news repertoires according to their habits, needs, and preferences. As convenient as these practices seem, they may favor the development of misperceptions such as "news finds me" perception (NFM) and make it easier for some people to disconnect from news and political content. Building on the conceptualization of news avoidance as a general disposition and its consequential behaviors, this study jointly examines key individual-level predispositions that may motivate intentional news avoidance. Based on a two-wave survey collected in the United States, our results largely corroborate previous work showing the association of political interest, news overload, and trust in professional news with news avoidance, and stress the importance of including the NFM in the theoretical and empirical modelling of news avoidance. Our analyses also suggest that the linkages between these individual-level antecedents and news avoidance are contingent upon the design and robustness of the empirical tests, with NFM yielding the most consistent association across models.
Prior scholarship has consistently shown that informed citizens tend to better understand governm... more Prior scholarship has consistently shown that informed citizens tend to better understand government actions, expectations, and priorities, potentially mitigating radicalism such as partaking in illegal protest. However, the role of social media may prove this relationship to be challenging, with an increasingly pervasive use of applications such as WhatsApp for information and mobilization. Findings from a two-wave US panel survey data show that WhatsApp news is negatively associated to political knowledge and positively associated to illegal protest. Less politically knowledgeable citizens also tend to engage in illegal protest more frequently. Results also suggest an influential role of political knowledge in mediating the effects of WhatsApp news over illegal protests. Those who consume more news on WhatsApp tend to know less about politics which, in turn, positively relates to unlawful political protest activities. This study suggests that WhatsApp affordances provide fertile paths to nurture illegal political protest participation.
In light of significant transformations in the television marketplace, audiences are getting prog... more In light of significant transformations in the television marketplace, audiences are getting progressively disconnected from public service media (PSM) and switching their time and attention to multiplatform companies instead. This study explores how potential audiences socially construct Spanish public television and how these perceptions are shaped by citizens' expectations toward multiplatform media companies. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 46 Spanish adults, our study shows that the social construction of Televisión Española (TVE) is influenced by positive and negative perceptions of its structure, content output, and pass performance, in what we theorize as the foundation of an inconsistent public television. We
The practice and structural conditions of the journalism craft provide fertile grounds for facili... more The practice and structural conditions of the journalism craft provide fertile grounds for facilitating the emergence of conflicts in the newsroom. However, extant research on journalism studies have largely neglected the boundary conditions for their emergence and the individual and organizational mechanisms displayed to unravel them. Based on in-depth interviews with 40 Spanish journalists, we conceptualize newsrooms' conflicts as the dark side of journalism and examine the structural and individual factors that nurtures their appearance. We also clarify the main strategies for conflict management, arguing that conflict resolution is typically based on informal mediation strategies, rather than institutionalized plans directly implemented by news organizations.
Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens' personality in activati... more Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens' personality in activating political behavior. We test whether extraversion is associated to collective political activities (i.e., activities that include social interaction) and individual ones (i.e., activities that do not include social interactions). Methods. We use originally collected survey data from five countries (Brazil, Korea, Russia, United States, United Kingdom). Results. We found that extraversion is positively and directly related to collective political activities in Brazil, Korea and Russia. Results show no direct relationship between individual forms of political activities and extraversion. However, political discussion fully mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual forms of political activities in all five countries. Conclusion. This study contributes to growing discussions on the role of personality traits in explaining political participation across countries, arguing that the relationship between extraversion and diverse forms of political participation are also context-driven and nourished by political discussion.
This study examines citizen's use of social media during the political crisis triggered by the Ca... more This study examines citizen's use of social media during the political crisis triggered by the Catalan Referendum. More specifically, we seek to shed more light on Catalan citizens' (dis)engagement on social media, examining what citizens did and did not do on social media, who they avoided and/or unfriended, and the implications of such behaviours for democratic citizenship in Spain. Our findings, based on 50 interviews with Catalan citizens, show that despite strong political partisanship, Catalans show little inclination to discuss political issues online and consequently develop what we term a teflonic social media behaviour (TSMB). By implementing these avoidance tactics, they refrain from commenting and sharing political information about the Catalan conflict on social media. Furthermore, when they happen, political discussions are mainly triggered by blatant lies or fabricated content that citizens from both sides of the political spectrum want to confront based on their own real-world experiences. We find that despite the fact that the independence movement has undeniably fuelled social and political conflict, the unfriend button on social media was only used when specific norms of uncivility were breached rather than as a reaction to the mere exposure to dissonant views and opinions.
Since the emergence and growing popularity of digital technologies and social media platforms, th... more Since the emergence and growing popularity of digital technologies and social media platforms, the relationship between professional and citizen journalism has been challenging. In recent years, however, this critical relationship has de-escalated due to a growing collaboration in shaping a complemental news repertoire. This study examines how social and traditional news use and users' perceptions on professional journalism affect citizens' news content creation. Based on survey data from Spain, we first find that social media use for news and users' positive perceptions on professional journalism predict citizens' news production behavior. Second, social media use for news and traditional media consumption are explored as additive moderators over the relationship of users' perceptions on professional journalism on citizens' news content creation, showing a positive significant effect. This study contributes to current conversations on the potential symbiotic association between professional and citizens journalism, arguing that citizens' perceptual appraisals on professional journalism are key in fostering public's participation through news content creation.
The ubiquitous nature of online news, especially in social media, increasingly exposes readers to... more The ubiquitous nature of online news, especially in social media, increasingly exposes readers to news even when they are not seeking it. Based on 50 semi-structured interviews with Spanish incidental news consumers, we inductively explore the effects of incidental news consumption and problematize the phenomenology of encountering news passively on social media. Our results first question previous quantitative analysis on the potential positive effects of incidental news exposure, evidencing its minimal or null effects on how citizens make sense of, and are informed about, public affairs and politics. Second, our findings indicate that citizens appraisals of incidental news content varies according to the producers involved, the topics addressed and the interest triggered. Our study contributes to current discussions of incidental news exposure, arguing that both quantitative and qualitative studies should consider the direct and indirect impact of structural, cognitive and situational variables to holistically account for incidental news effects.
With today's research production and global dissemination, there is growing pressure to assess ho... more With today's research production and global dissemination, there is growing pressure to assess how academic fields foster diversity. Based on a mathematical problem/solve scheme, the aim of this study is twofold. First, the paper elaborates on how research diversity in scientific fields can be empirically gauged, proposing six working definitions. Second , drawing on these theoretical explanations, we introduce an original methodological protocol for research diversity evaluation. Third, the study puts this mathematical model to an empirical test by comparatively evaluating (1) communication research diversity in 2017, with respect to field's diversity in 1997, and (2) communication research and political science diversity in 2017. Our results indicate that, contrasted to pattern diversity , communication research in 2017 is not a diverse field. However, throughout the years (1997-2017), there is a statistically significant improvement. Finally, the cross-comparison examination between political and communication sciences reveals the latter to be significantly more diverse.
In this present paper, we analyse the geopolitical distribution of different research approaches ... more In this present paper, we analyse the geopolitical distribution of different research approaches represented by the published papers in all the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) journals in communication. The article argues that an analysis of this kind is necessary if a clear picture of the complex pattern of power relations in global knowledge production within communication scholarship is needed. Our empirical evidences show that the global core publishes theoretical and quantitative papers in a proportionally greater extent than the global periphery, but while in 1997 the centre's contribution was proportionally greater in theorising and in quantitative research than the contribution of the periphery, the latter's contribution in theorisation slightly raised by 2017.
Drawing upon 45 in-depth interviews and heterogeneous focus groups with workers at Spanish public... more Drawing upon 45 in-depth interviews and heterogeneous focus groups with workers at Spanish public television (TVE), this study explores how journalists and feminist activists jointly have interacted to create and manage a movement (Viernes Negros) to preserve their professional independence and demand the transparent appointment of TVE's president through a public process. Specifically, we illustrate the evolution, leadership, and strategies for participation in this mobilization, elaborating on the crucial role of MujeresRTVE (MujeresRTVE is a movement that emerged in relation to the 2018 Women's Day and promotes the values of independence, quality and gender perspective at RTVE; Rosa María Mateo Isasi is an award-winning journalist and newscast anchorwoman. She was named as a temporary sole administrator of RTVE on July 27, 2018, which means she holds the powers of both the presidency and the management board of RTVE, remaining in charge to this date) in structuring and legitimizing the protest. This study contributes to current discussions on the independence of the public service broadcasting, arguing that newsroom aims might be more effectively implemented when actively led by newsworkers.
Resumen. Este artículo trata de resituar el descubrimiento como centro del proceso de investigaci... more Resumen. Este artículo trata de resituar el descubrimiento como centro del proceso de investigación y problematiza las lógicas de investigación hoy dominantes (cuantitativa/hipotético-deductiva e inductiva/cualitativa-exploratoria), con el objetivo de revelar el limitado margen que ambas aproximaciones ofrecen para la concepción y detección de descubrimientos. El ensayo propone una serie de lógicas, estrategias y técnicas con las que descifrar potenciales descubrimientos y problematiza los condicionantes teóricos y técnicos para su detección y posterior evaluación por pares.
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Papers by Manuel Goyanes