Abstract

This paper analyzes communication management in Spanish public universities by interviewing communication directors of these institutions. Results show that, in addition to the shortcomings identified in the management of communications in public universities, which undermines the achievement of the exact marketing objective, the diffusional model is dominant, playing a negative influencing role. The diffusional model obscures other alternative models that would show more democratic institutions.

Abstract

On April, 17th 2018, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the Plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, appealed to the “renaissance of European sovereignty”. The article analyzes the functions attributed to the preferred social network for debate and political discussion, Twitter, focusing essentially on: the distribution of information, the impact of the social network on the modification of the public agenda, the personalization of the transmission of political discourses in social networks, as well as new habits of political consumption specifically, in the context of Twitter. The results show that: 1) journalists have a key role in the descriptive phase towards national publics but a less salient one in the emerging transnational sphere where political actors target their own publics directly; 2) EU institutions failed to try to set the agenda setting through hashtags without success; 3) Macron is a transnational political actor capable of communicating through fragmented public spaces; 4) The content of the messages passes very quickly from a descriptive to a framing approach.

Abstract

The perception of specialized journalists about the transformations of public communication of health and biomedicine in Spain in the last two decades was analysed. Twenty semi-structured interviews were performed. In the analysis, the metaphorical concept of "ecosystem" has been used. According to the interviewees, the main "environmental" changes have been technological (highlighting the expansion and diversity of online information and the impact of social networks). There is a multiplication and diversification of the "species" of information sources. Within this, specialized sources (researchers and health professionals) and civil associations (patients and consumers) have increased their visibility, but "opportunistic species" have also emerged, such as the promoters of fake-news and pseudotherapies. Despite recognizing that their work "environment" has worsened and perceiving the dependence on clickbait and network positioning as a threat, health journalists value their profession with satisfaction.