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- Volume 11, Issue 2, 2019
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies - Volume 11, Issue 2, 2019
Volume 11, Issue 2, 2019
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We need to talk: Willingness to speak out about Catalonia’s secession
Authors: Joan Balcells and Albert Padró-SolanetA repeated argument to invalidate the legitimacy of a debate on Catalonia’s independence is the existence of a spiral of silence affecting unionist supporters. However, we find inconclusive empirical evidence to sustain this claim. Although survey data show that willingness to talk about secession is higher among pro-independence supporters both in face-to-face and online environments, multivariate regression models – taking into account the perception of the opinion climate – reveal a different and more complex picture. Pro-independence supporters are highly mobilized particularly in like-minded and private environments, but this enthusiasm decreases when they perceive their ideas not to be shared by the majority, whereas unionist supporters show a more stable pattern irrespective of the opinion climate. In publicly exposed arenas like social media, where activists abound, willingness to talk is lower and differences between both sides are minimal. Overall, the results are hardly consistent with the patterns of behaviour that would be expected in a spiral of silence.
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‘Independence 2.0’: Digital activism, social media and the Catalan independence movement
More LessThis article examines the role and use of social media in the ongoing movement for Catalan independence by focusing on two pro-independence civil society organizations, Feministes per la Independència (FxI) and Òmnium Cultural (OC). Drawing upon elite interview data with representatives from both organizations and Catalan parliamentarians, it posits that social media platforms serve as crucial vehicles for these civil society organizations, particularly in terms of empowerment, mobilization, organization, participation and resistance. The increasing salience of digital activism in Catalonia is such that social media platforms have become fundamental pillars of the independence movement, helping to overcome state-imposed institutional obstacles as well as internationalize the issue across transnational networks. The analysis, however, also reveals a darker side to engagement with social media including the proliferation of biased narratives, dissemination of misinformation and trolling. On the basis of these reflections, the article concludes that while engagement with social media entails risks, hitherto such platforms have proved to be highly effective and will continue to be pivotal in promoting and generating support for the independence cause.
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The coverage of the international press in framing the Catalan sovereignty process: Analysis of ten leading EU and US newspapers 2010–17
The Catalan sovereignty process has been a topic of interest in the mass media worldwide in recent years. We analysed nearly 900 stories, published between 10 June 2010 and 4 October 2017 by the main newspapers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, for content in terms of genres, frames and journalistic sources. We also conducted in-depth interviews with the newspaper foreign correspondents to Spain. A main conclusion is that all the newspapers framed the sovereignty process as a conflict between the Spanish and Catalan governments, in which the EU, according to the newspapers analysed, should mediate.
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Framing Catalonia: Evidence from Québec media
Authors: Philippe Dubois and Katryne Villeneuve-SiconnellyThis article assesses the media treatment of the Catalan referendum on independence (October 2017) in the Québec context. By conducting a quantitative and deductive content analysis of articles published in the four major Québec newspapers, we analyse how Québec newspapers frames the conflict regarding their historical editorial position about the Québec independence project. In addition, we examine how the comparison between Québec and Catalonia fit into the media coverage. Our results confirm the dominant use of the conflict frame for media coverage of political issues. They also point out the importance of internal and institutional factors like the importance of press agencies or the presence of correspondent on the ground as features influencing frames. In terms of editorial position, data suggest that similar issues between two stateless nations do not automatically involve a similar media treatment. We suggest the concept of ‘projection effect’ to bring nuances to the ‘mirror effect’ proposed in the literature.
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Metaphors for comic relief: Satirists’ self-reported contribution to democratic dialogue in difficult times
More LessThis article aims at enriching the debate on the role of political satire when politics becomes troublesome. It takes an ethnographic approach to the production of the TV programme Polònia, which has been broadcast weekly in Catalonia since 2006 and consists of satirical impersonations of politicians. The first section tries to understand the role programme-makers attribute to Polònia within Catalan politics. Participants regard themselves as a central part of the political institutions in Catalonia and recognize a commitment with democratic values. This contests the normative approach in political communication studies which does not assign a role for entertainment in fostering democratic dialogue. The second section has to do with the main characteristic of Polònia’s language: experiential metaphors. Politics is ‘re-described’ in terms of everyday situations by transposing politicians into situations easily recognisable for the audience. It is concluded that Polònia uses a verisimilitude-oriented language rather than the veracity-oriented language of journalism.
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Memes as an ideological tool: The stance of the Spanish online newspapers regarding the Catalan Referendum and Catalan Regional Elections 2017
Authors: Cristina Algaba and Elena Bellido-PérezThe present article analyses the use of digital memes by the main Spanish newspapers taking the Catalan Referendum 1 October 2017 and the Catalan Regional Elections 21 December 2017 as a case study. Since these events took place, Spain is living a new wave of polarization, where the country is divided between those who support the Catalan goal of independence and those who protest against it. Therefore, Spanish Internet users have fervently positioned themselves for or against the Catalan pro-independence discourse, using humour as a weapon and, consequently, memes as the medium. These memes that have arisen can be labelled as pieces of anti-propagandistic critical discourse (ACD). Through a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodology, we propose to identify the features of the ACD in the memes about the Catalan independence that have been collected in the online edition of the main Spanish newspapers. In this way, our main goal is to point out memes as a powerful ideological tool for citizens and hence for the general media.
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Image-sharing and iconicity on social media during the Catalan conflict (2017)
Authors: Gemma San Cornelio and Edgar Gómez CruzThe aim of this article is to analyse the role that images have played in the Catalan conflict, using the pictures produced in the days surrounding the independence referendum in Barcelona as a case study. As part of an ongoing research agenda on the role of images in social media, our goal is to develop a framework for the analysis of visual practices on social media in the course of creating and re-signifying images. The pictures analysed were taken in the Ramon Llull Primary School during the days of 1 October 2017 and 3 October 2017.
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An algorithm for Catalonia
More LessIt is still true that defining problems is half the way to finding a solution. In this article I aim to explain how I see the Catalan conflict and, in so doing, do my best not to turn my preferences into prejudices and try to strike a balance between the descriptions of reality that seem to ignore the tensions and the descriptions that excessively dramatize the differences. In a context where political agents are more interested in proving the strength of their character and their convictions than in getting results and signing agreements, I defend that there is a procedure for reaching a solution that should respect three principles: representation, revisability and indeterminacy.
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The dark sides of sharenting
Authors: Andra Siibak and Keily Traks
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