Abstract
In the theater of operations that constitutes the contemporary public sphere, people and characters share the stage, individuals with their own conscience and purpose and agents who represent others, who disguise themselves as others or impersonate others in order to position particular discourses and interests. This paper explores the tensions between online media, paid discourses and democracy in Costa Rica. It proposes to analyze the systematic and coordinated participation of users in the news coverage of the six most important media (television, radio and print) in Costa Rica, as well as to characterize the type of behaviour and discourses of these users and their relationship with the political actors they claim to represent. It emphasizes en the multiple ways in which users represent these tensions through different forms of imagery, through diverse channels and media forms. It concludes with a reflection on the dangerous relationship between the commodification of speech and discursive antagonism as the driving force behind the political and ideological tensions that underpin political participation in contemporary democracies.
Presenters
Jorge Zeledon PerezProfesor, Escuela de Ciencias de la Comunicación Colectiva, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Discourse violence, Social Media, Democracy, Politics, Media, Press, Online participation
