New Paper in ICA Comm Theory

The ICA journal Communication Theory recently published a new paper of mine – “The Mediatization of Human Rights Memory in Chile.” This is an article-length summary/update of the theoretical framework I started to develop in my 2018 book, plus some previously unpublished quantitative data about the 1988 Franjas. ¡Chekalo!

Abstract – The current pandemic-imposed reliance on media-centered forms of civic engagement underscores the need for empirical mediatization research on the relationship between media, partisan conflict, and political culture. Drawing from critical Latin American media scholarship, mediatization theory, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), this article proposes a framework for comparative political communication research that centers on media practices and sociocultural change. By analyzing how a 1988 political advertising campaign in dictatorial Chile instantiated a peculiar vision of democratic transition, this article provides an examination of the disjuncture between televised representations of cheerful political reconciliation and abominable human rights abuses as the initial stage in the mediatization of Chilean human rights memory (HRM).

 

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