GIGAPP Estudios Working Papers

Presentación de número especial RICE: Nuevos escenarios para la Comunicación

Palmira Chavero, Dra. — 2025-06-23

Este número especial, “Nuevos escenarios para la comunicación”, reúne sólo algunas de las investigaciones presentadas y debatidas en el III Congreso Internacional RICE 2024, aquellas que se articulan en torno a las principales dimensiones de la comunicación. Por un lado, se presentan artículos que continúan la línea de trabajo que reconoce a los medios de comunicación no sólo como mediadores entre los distintos actores de la esfera pública, sino como verdaderos actores políticos. En este bloque están los trabajos de Meruvia y Ramírez sobre Bolivia y Cedillo sobre el caso chileno.

Curriculum update to enhance professional profiles: is it necessary for the sustainability of communication careers?

Ana Paulina Escobar Ronquillo, Dra. — 2025-06-23

The digital context in which communication professions develop has boosted the diversity of professional profiles in recent years, challenging higher education institutions to innovate their offerings through their curricula. How significant have these changes been? Are Ecuadorian universities really innovating their curricula, their graduate profiles? These are precisely the objectives of this research: to know how universities have made curricular adjustments to their communication careers and to identify how curricular updates have impacted on the redefinition of professional profiles in communication and journalism. As methodology, the study applies a comparative and documentary analysis of the careers of five private universities, considering the academic offer registered in the Higher Education Council (CES), in 2018 and 2024. The findings establish that, on the one hand, not all universities have made adjustments or curricular updates to their academic offerings in line with the reality of the labor market and, on the other hand, that the challenge of aligning academic offerings with labor demand has led other universities to diversify their modalities to remain in force or to close careers definitively. The research also sets the tone (discussion) to establish new hypotheses, which constitutes a challenge for research on the evolution of the professional profiles of communication, the professional competencies demanded by the occupational field of communication, but also on the versatility of the professional profile, from the point of view of the labor market.

Optimization of external communication through the use of Podcast

Cristhian Martin Reyes Hidalgo — 2025-06-23

Optimizing external communication is essential for organizations aiming to establish a strong connection with their audience. In this context, tools like podcasts emerge and stand out due to their flexibility and ability to adapt to content consumption preferences. The ability of podcasts to generate an immersive auditory experience that reinforces brand identity is what adds value to their use in external communication. The increase in podcast consumption offers organizations the opportunity to expand their reach and enhance their communicative strategy. This format integrates with other digital tools such as social media and streaming platforms, amplifying the message in a time-adjustable manner and ensuring constant optimization of communication campaigns. In this sense, this paper aims to analyze how the strategic use of podcasts can optimize the external communication of organizations in the digital era. A systematic review of the use of podcasts in communication strategies is conducted, and, with a qualitative approach, the paper seeks to expose effective practices and common challenges. In summary, podcasts will continue to develop and establish themselves as fundamental tools in communication, with their adaptation to technological innovations and the inclusion of interactive approaches being key. Given this situation, organizations must commit to continuously incorporating, analyzing, and improving the use of podcasts as part of their communication strategy.

Coup or self-coup? Media discourses about the military attack in Bolivia

Gonzalo E. Meruvia Salinas — 2025-06-23

On June 26, 2024, Bolivia experienced an unprecedented event in which armed military troops stormed Plaza Murillo, the epicenter of the country's politics, forcing their way into the Government Palace with tanks, aiming to stage a coup against the government of President Luis Arce Catacora. This episode shocked a large portion of the population, shaped the political agenda for several weeks, and had numerous repercussions in the public sphere and the construction of opinions. The media, in their role as meaning-makers, played a significant role in shaping how this event was perceived, considering the national political, economic, and social situation. This article seeks to analyze, based on framing theory, the media discourse of the Bolivian mainstream press surrounding the events that occurred after the military takeover of Plaza Murillo. To this end, four nationally circulated media outlets (Ahora el Pueblo, La Razón, El Deber, and Los Tiempos) were analyzed. The paper examined ways of understanding the event, classifying it, and politically orienting its potential consequences. It examined how the press highlights certain elements of reality—or omits them—which aspects are emphasized, and how news is constructed around a sensitive topic for Bolivian society, such as an attempted military coup.

Discursive construction of the Venezuelan migratory crisis from the Chilean press

Nathalia Cedillo Carrillo, Dra. (c) — 2025-06-23

In Chile, between 2016 and 2021, the rise in Venezuelan immigration became a major public concern, sparking political responses from the governments in power and shaping media narratives that turned the phenomenon into a discursive event. Both Michelle Bachelet and Sebastián Piñera implemented measures to regulate human mobility and promote a new immigration law to replace Decree Law No. 1094 of 1975. In this context, the term crisis—primarily used by political actors and the press to characterize Venezuelan immigration—took on a negative connotation in public opinion.This paper examines how the Chilean press constructed the issue of the migration crisis in news coverage from 2016 to 2021, focusing on the national newspapers Emol and La Tercera, as well as the regional newspapers La Estrella de Arica and La Estrella de Iquique. Using a socio-semiotic approach and critical discourse analysis, the study uncovers a discursive structure that generates discriminatory, criminalizing, and dehumanizing representations of Venezuelan immigration. These portrayals exaggerate social and cultural differences while reducing the complexity of migration to a state security threat. The results indicate that the thematic focus, language, and key actors shaping the discourse on Chile’s migration crisis have turned this concept into a strategic tool for steering public debate primarily toward legislative frameworks aimed at immigration control, rather than fostering discussions on comprehensive public policies. As a result, this approach restricts intercultural recognition in the face of increasingly unavoidable human mobility.

Communication of risks: Spirals of fear around the washout of Quilloturo de Baños de Agua Santa (Ecuador)

Marco Sánchez Peña — 2025-06-23

Risk communication has undergone variations in its form and design and broadcasting protocols, entrusting its function to actors emerging from digital platforms. Information and immediacy no longer belong to those who have the mission to manage it responsibly, appearing in the social media ecosystem collective communication phenomena driven by social dialogue and emotional contagion. The present study identifies the emergence of spirals of fear around digital publications about the landslide in the community of Quilloturo, parish of Río Verde in the canton of Baños de Agua Santa in Ecuador. Using a social listening tool, the conversations that circulated about the natural phenomenon were monitored, determining insights, terms of reference and feelings that emerge from the publications. Risk is perceived by the base terms and data used in the publications, also the components of fear spirals appear in the sentiments emitted in digital publications. It is possible that journalists are becoming specialists in the routinization of unpredictability with the contribution of social actors on the web that emit content. Such action implies that informative discourses are configuring emotions in the digital that can generate psychoemotional affectations.

Use of TikTok in sports journalism and its acceptance by students in the communications program at the University of Guayaquil

Victoria Michelle Zambrano Freire — 2025-06-23

The use of TikTok in sports content creation has emerged as an attractive tool for Communication students at the University of Guayaquil. This analysis focuses on evaluating how TikTok contributes to sports content creation and its acceptance by students. Objective: To analyze the influence of the TikTok social media platform as a sports content development tool for Communication students at the University of Guayaquil. Methodology: A survey was conducted with 120 students and three interviews were conducted with experts to understand their perceptions of TikTok in the field of sports journalism. Results: The results indicate that 45% of students spend between 0 and 30 minutes on TikTok, and 38% consider the platform useful for sharing sports content interactively. Furthermore, 55% believe that TikTok facilitates the connection between sports journalism and fans. However, there is a need to improve journalistic rigor, as some students still struggle to maintain accuracy in their content.

Facebook as a digital literacy tool for local sustainable development

Karina Benítez-Luzuriaga — 2025-06-23

The research analyzed the use of Facebook as a digital literacy tool in environmental communication for three provincial Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GADs) in Ecuador: El Oro, Carchi and Pastaza. The objective of the research was to identify the potentialities and limitations of this social network in the promotion of environmental management of these organizations. With a mixed methodology that included techniques such as descriptive mapping, content analysis with artificial intelligence (AI) and interviews with experts in communication and environmental management, the publications made on Facebook during three months of 2023 were analyzed. The results showed that publications on environmental content were scarce and that strictly informative information on thematic events was prioritized, with variations in the format between the publications of the three provincial public agencies. The GAD of El Oro stood out for having the highest number of followers and publications, while the GADs of Carchi and Pastaza presented less activity. However, in general, publications lack strategies that promote citizen interaction and participation, limiting their effectiveness. The study concludes that, although Facebook is an accessible platform, it has not been optimally used as a digital literacy tool to develop public communication that promotes sustainable development in these regions and that encourages greater citizen participation in local environmental management, through social networks.

Transformations in Communication: The challenge of influencers for digital journalists in Argentina and Ecuador

Ximena Coronado Otavalo — 2025-06-23

“Communication never stops evolving”, in this way the new communication paradigm has passed the stage of waiting 24 hours for the media to issue information. The world has taken a digital course characterized by immediacy in the information channels. This article analyzes the evolution of Argentine and Ecuadorian digital journalists on YouTube, comparing them with well-known influencers. Currently, the influencers have become the direct competition for the professional journalist, from this, the question arises: Does the influencer replace the communication professional in the future? A mixed research approach was carried out, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. With this, we have been able to measure real statistical data thanks to the application of quantitative content analysis and, in parallel, understand in detail the experiences of journalists and influencers through the interview. 196 videos published by 8 YouTube channels of Argentine and Ecuadorian journalists and influencers were analyzed. The month of the FIFA World Cup was taken as a sample for our study, an event that began on November 20 and ended on December 18, 2022. After the application of the research instruments and the collection of information, a clear disadvantage has been seen between the journalist and the influencer, due to the fact that the phenomenon originated on the Internet is a persuasive figure that it has global communities, as opposed to the journalist, who is just getting started on the YouTube social network.

Educommunication and digital literacy in rural areas: Case of Parroquia El Retiro del Cantón Machala

Lizette Ivonne Lazo Serrano — 2025-06-23

This research focuses on a widespread problem in rural Ecuador, namely the lack of digital skills in these sectors. The main objective was to implement a programme to improve the necessary skills so that the population of the rural parish of El Retiro in the Machala canton in the province of El Oro can communicate, access, produce and share information in the digital environment in a critical, creative, responsible and empathetic way. The Research-Action-Participatory Research (RAP) methodology was used. Based on the initial diagnosis, workshops were designed and executed on the themes of security, ethics and digital entrepreneurship, where mixed techniques were also used to dynamise participation: tree of expectations, brainstorming, identification of needs-solutions and satisfaction surveys. In the final phase, participants shared their experiences about changes or improvements in their daily life situations. Findings reveal that participants were satisfied as they improved their digital competences, showed interest in further learning, raised awareness on care and responsibility in the use of technology, protection of personal data, cyber bullying and identity theft. Interest was stimulated to generate digital entrepreneurship or business and they recommended implementing permanent programmes of longer duration. The project allowed the inhabitants of El Retiro to solve real problems in the digital environment, strengthen their digital literacy process as a tool for personal development, digital inclusion, active citizen participation and contribution to their socio-economic and labour development. This demonstrated the effectiveness of educommunication as a strategy to empower rural communities to access the necessary tools to face the challenges of the digital era and reduce the digital divide.