Diana Rivera

Media consumption and media literacy in university students

This research includes information on the cultural and media consumption of young Ecuadorian university students and the relationship that exists with the media skills they have. The inquiries were carried out in two stages, the first analyzed the consumption of traditional and digital media of Ecuadorian university students in 2015. Twenty-six universities in Ecuador were studied with representative samples of each university, within a target group of Young people between the ages of 18 and 25, considered generationally as Millennials. 8,483 young people were part of the study group on media consumption and cultural consumption. The second research on media skills was developed two years later (2017), in this case three universities in the city of Loja (Ecuador) will be taken as case study. The results show that the young Ecuadorians experience the generational change, but it still has to critically alphabetize this group under study.

Digital journalist Ecuador profile: Competencies and skills

This research collects data on the profile of the digital journalist in Ecuador, role, characteristics, training, knowledge, content management and use of Web 2.0 tools in their daily work; for this we have selected six national newspapers that have a digital version: El Universo; El Comercio; La Hora, El Telégrafo, Expreso y Extra. The research was conducted through quantitative and qualitative methods; an online survey was designed, in order to know the profile and characteristics of the journalist. In addition, interviews were conducted in-depth journalists, opinion leaders and academics, in order to meet diverse opinions on the management of technology. Among other findings, the research envisioned that the exercise of the digital journalist in Ecuador is supported in academic education: 96% of respondents journalists have a degree in Social Communication and related fields. In the workplace, multitasking and versatility are key in the halls of digital writing, journalists say they write, manage social networks, manage data both printed and digital platforms.

Media literacy in students in the city of Loja (Ecuador)

This research includes the study of audiovisual media literacy. We worked with a sample of 23 schools in the city of Loja, with a population of 1,150 students between the tenth year of basic a third year high school education. In order to analyze and diagnose the level of audiovisual media competence in young (14-18 years) of public, private and “fiscomisionales” schools. On the other hand it is important to deepen and disseminate this research, to be included in the academic curriculum matters relating to communication and the new era we are experiencing. The world is constantly changing and it is necessary that young people know how to use the new tools properly and also understand and analyze the information that is transmitted by these sites. In this research we focus on two specific dimensions of media literacy as production and dissemination and ideology and values.