Confronting (mis)information in digitally literate social practices: a study of podcasts in Brazil and France

• Grant number: 24/02148-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Applied Linguistics
• Principal Investigator: Fabiana Cristina Komesu
• Grantee: Julia Giacon Lopes
• Supervisor: Cedric Fluckiger
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université De Lille, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/08765-8 - Facing fake news with a good story: a study of the relationship between speech and writing in storytelling podcasts, BP.IC

Abstract

From a theoretical and methodological perspective that focuses on literacy studies, particularly in the relationship between speech and writing on one hand, and studies of literate social practices using digital technologies on the other hand, this research project for the Research Internship Abroad (BEPE FAPESP) aims to primarily study the conversational dynamics in podcasts produced in Brazil and France. The material set consists of two episodes touching the issue of misinformation, produced by SudRadio and Radio Novelo, both available for public access. The initial hypothesis is that the use of communicative signals in the production of podcasts is of fundamental relevance for audience engagement. However, other aspects, such as the discursive positioning of the interviewees, also influence audience engagement. This general objective unfolds into specific ones: (i) analyze, based on episode transcriptions, the most recurrent conversational signals in podcasts from Brazil and France, considering the establishment of conversational dynamics in the "interview" genre; (ii) analyze, based on episode transcriptions, the function of conversational turns in podcasts from Brazil and France, considering, on one hand, what is said by participants within the scope of the given topic, and on the other hand, the power dynamics of taking the floor in regard to a specific discursive orientation; (iii) describe the consumption of digital social media and podcasts in Brazil and France, focusing primarily on the age group of young university students, the potential audience for scientific dissemination podcasts, as exemplified in this work. We seek to contribute to the investigation of the relationship between academic and scientific expertise and content produced and spread on digital platforms and social networks, such as podcasts, considering the possibility of audience engagement with scientific topics.