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This thesis is set in the context of social science’s interest in the generation of expectations, the news media, and neurotechnologies. It is a qualitative case study that examines the nature and impact of news media reporting of some pioneering research, which used functional magnetic resonance imaging in an attempt to diagnose and communicate with severely brain-injured individuals. Previous news media studies exploring neurotechnologies have been quantitative, or have tended to focus on how or why the news media represents neurotechnologies and/or the impact of the reporting, but rarely all three together. My thesis looks at all three aspects of the news media reporting of my case study. I draw on three sets of empirical data. First, those related to the production of the media - the press releases which reported the research; ten semi-structured interviews with science press officers; and the relevant expert comments posted on the Science Media Centre’s website. Second, 51 newspaper articles reporting the research. Third, five semi-structured interviews with relatives of severely brain-injured patients. I show that the mood of excitement and ‘breakthrough’ present in the press release reporting of this research was closely echoed in the news coverage. This excitement influenced the views and beliefs of only some of the relatives I interviewed. I then examine the nature of hype and by drawing on Haraway’s concept of ‘situated knowledges’ (1988) I argue that individuals view hype differently depending on their profession, industry and/or socio-cultural background. Finally, I show how whilst both the news media and the scholarly literature portrayed this research as ethically contentious, the issues most prominently discussed by scholars and/or journalists do not necessarily equate with relatives’ concerns. My findings aim to contribute to the sociology of expectations, media theory, the sociology of bioethics and the public understanding of science.

Submitted by Vasti Diniz (vastijpa@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-20T13:20:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2943946 bytes, checksum: b8343c63ac0d576407d4e983fce42bb5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-20T13:20:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2943946 bytes, checksum: b8343c63ac0d576407d4e983fce42bb5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-11 / The historical evolution of the democracy brought the growing necessity of communication and spreading public interest information about the governments to the citizens. Managing these fluxes became part of a specific professional activity, the press office – which gained boost regarding the news release with these function occupied by journalists. The present work shows how this class conquered, developed and exercise its mediator role between power and society, both yesterday and today, in media times. The technologic evolution brought changes in diverse social areas, reaching significantly the media functions. Therefore, it is important to describe the press office work in the institution, focusing the functions and challenges faced by the journalist, especially after the social and digital medias creation. As research’s objectives we have: to contextualize the exercise of the press office profession in general and local levels. To characterize the nature of the journalistic work developed in institutions – especially publics institutions (conflicts, tensions, interests). To distinguish the journalistic practice in press and in the institutional environment. To point the changes faced in social fields and, mainly, in communication, with the digital creation. To discuss culturally and professionally the press officers identity, investigatin if the “ciberculture” creation and the social medias rise brought changes in press officers identities and production routine. For this, besides the bibliography revision, we resorted to the study of the experience in the Paraíba Government case, which has sort of 65 press officers. As methodology, the study uses, in addition, the researcher’s direct participative observation, who is part of the group, and did interviews and applied questionnaires, in a pattern, as a sample of the government press officers. Starting from these resources, the results point that the use of the digital devices, digital and social, are part of the routine of most of the press officers, optimizing the journalistic disclosure and the relationship with the public. The majority of the press officers sees that the new tools, though beneficial, bring function accumulation and overwhelming, because the routine is not restrict to work journey, but full time, to answer the demands coming from everywhere anytime. The press officer also exercise various media activities, establishing a multitasking and technological profile. / A evolução histórica da democracia trouxe uma necessidade crescente de comunicação e liberação de informações de interesse público dos governos para os cidadãos. Administrar esses fluxos passou a fazer parte de uma atividade profissional específica, a assessoria de imprensa – que ganhou impulso quanto à divulgação noticiosa com a ocupação desta função por jornalistas. Neste trabalho, mostra-se como essa classe conquistou, desenvolveu e exerce o papel de mediador entre o poder e a sociedade, tanto ontem quanto hoje, em tempos de midiatização. A evolução tecnológica trouxe mudanças nas diversas esferas sociais, atingindo significativamente as funções de mídia. Por isso, cumpre-nos descrever o trabalho de assessoria de imprensa nas organizações, com foco nas funções e desafios enfrentados pelo jornalista, sobretudo depois do advento das mídias digitais e sociais. Como objetivos específicos da pesquisa, temos: contextualizar o exercício da profissão de assessor em nível geral e local; caracterizar a natureza do trabalho jornalístico desenvolvido em organizações – sobretudo públicas (conflitos, tensões, interesses); diferenciar a prática jornalística na redação e no ambiente organizacional; apontar as mudanças vividas nos campos sociais e principalmente na Comunicação com o advento do digital; discutir cultura profissional e descrever o perfil dos assessores; investigando se o advento da cibercultura e a ascensão das mídias sociais traz mudanças na identidade e nas rotinas de produção do assessor de imprensa. Para isso, além da revisão bibliográfica, recorremos ao estudo de caso da experiência do Governo do Estado da Paraíba, que emprega uma média de 65 assessores. Como metodologia, o estudo utiliza, ainda, a observação direta participante da pesquisadora, que integra a equipe em questão, bem como a realização de entrevistas e a aplicação de questionário padrão com uma amostra de assessores do governo. A partir desses meios, os resultados apontam que o uso dos dispositivos de mídias - digitais e sociais - fazem parte do dia a dia da maioria dos assessores, otimizando a divulgação jornalística e o relacionamento com os públicos. A maior parte dos profissionais enxerga que as novas ferramentas, embora benéficas, trazem acúmulo de função e sobrecarga - pois a rotina não mais é restrita às horas de trabalho, mas “full time”, para atender as demandas advindas de todos os meios e em qualquer momento do dia. O assessor também passa a exercer diversas atividades de mídia, estabelecendo-se com um perfil multitarefa e tecnológico.