The information sources of the first Spanish Newspapers (1618-1635): the construction of information credibility

Este trabajo analiza las fuentes de información utilizadas en un corpus numeroso de avisos recogidos en periódicos españoles impresos entre 1618 y 1635. El objetivo de partida es determinar cómo se construye, en términos tanto históricos como retóricos, la credibilidad informativa. Analizaremos la construcción retórica de la credibilidad en el texto mismo de los avisos, concretamente en las fuentes de información que estos declaran u ocultan; para comprobar si existe una intención deliberada de encubrir las fuentes de información, estudiaremos la frecuencia con que aparece la atribución on deep background. La aproximación metodológica que orienta este estudio es la que sostiene el Historical News Discourse, que aplica las conclusiones y métodos de análisis del Análisis Crítico del Discurso a los periódicos del pasado, y contextualiza y explica sus resultados en relación a los planteamientos de la Historia del Periodismo y de la Comunicación (Conboy, Brownlees, Broersma y otros). Defendemos en este trabajo que el análisis del discurso de los primeros impresos informativos resulta fundamental para conocer cómo se consolida en España la profesión periodística, gracias a una nueva forma de auctoritas basada en la competencia discursiva. El gacetero o periodista aparece como una nueva modalidad de escritor, cuya credibilidad y reputación dependen de su capacidad para acceder, organizar y declarar –de acuerdo a patrones retóricos reconocibles para sus lectores– las fuentes de información a las que tiene acceso.This paper analyses the information sources used in a large corpus of news items published in Spanish printed newspapers between 1618 and 1635. The initial aim is to determine how information credibility was constructed in both historical and rhetorical terms. To this end, the rhetorical construction of credibility in the news stories are analysed by focusing on the information sources that these reveal or conceal. And in order to determine whether or not these sources were deliberately concealed, the frequency with which ‘on deep background’ attribution appears is examined. The methodological approach on which this study is based is Historical News Discourse, which applies the conclusions and methods of critical discourse analysis to newspapers of the past, in addition to contextualising and explaining the results in terms of journalism history and communication approaches (Conboy, Brownlees and Broersma, among others). In this work, we contend that the discourse analysis of the first printed newspapers is essential for gaining further insights into how the journalistic profession consolidated its position in Spain thanks to a new form of auctoritas based on discourse competence. The gazetteer or journalist emerged as a new kind of writer, whose credibility and reputation depended on his ability to access, organise and reveal –according to rhetorical patterns recognisable to readers– the information sources available to him

Requirements for effective participation in self-constructed organizations

This is an article about effective participation in organizations. It offers insights about the interplay between individual action and organization structure. It is argued that our actions produce these structures at the same time that these structures create the space for our actions in a never ending regression. Effective participation requires that all of us are involved in the invention and formation of self-constructed action spaces. This is in contrast to participation in organizations where a few create the context for the most, that is, where the organizational context of our actions is constructed (for us) rather than self-constructed. Organizations emerging from effective participation are called recursive organizations. The idea of recursive organizations is further developed using Beer's Viable System Model. This is a model of the communicational requirements to self-construct our action spaces and to align them with those of others. The argument is focused on our participation in team work and the requirements for us to develop organizational citizenship, cohesion and effective performance. These are all requirements to have an effective organization

Detection of Major River Bed Changes in the River Ebro (north-eastern Spain)

Detection of major river bed changes in River Ebro (northeastern Spain

Evaluación de la fiabilidad y validez de un aparato de medida de la presión arterial en la farmacia comunitaria

Introducción: La medida de la presión arterial es una práctica habitual tanto en la farmacia comunitaria como en el domicilio del paciente. Por ello, es conveniente que dispongamos de una técnica de comprobación de la fiabilidad y validez de los aparatos de medida, tanto de los propios como de los que el usuario tiene en su domicilio.Material y métodos: Al respecto se propone y se ejecuta un caso práctico de evaluación de la fiabilidad, mediante la técnica de Bland y Altman, y de la validez, mediante una prueba t para datos apareados y una adaptación de los criterios de la Sociedad Europea de Hipertensión (SEH).Resultados: En el caso práctico que exponemos, el aparato evaluado resulta ser fiable con el nuestro de referencia tanto en la presión arterial sistólica (PAS) como en la presión arterial diastólica PAD, presentando un sesgo en la PAD, midiendo como media 5,1 mmHg más que el nuestro de referencia. El aparato evaluado no pasa respecto al nuestro los criterios de validación de la SEH.Discusión: Como aportación personal se ha construido un archivo Excel® que realiza todos los cálculos anteriores, incluida la potencia de la prueba t, así como los gráficos de Bland y Altman, con solo introducir los resultados de las mediciones que se propone

A Cybernetic Paradigm for Organizational Assessment

The main purpose of this paper is to focus attention in organizations on a cybernetic viewpoint. From this point of view organization and planning are homologous. What a system does does not depend on what it would like to do. A system does what its organization allows it to do, no more, no less. The organization of a system in one way or another represents a measure of the level of environmental situations that it is capable of controlling. The criterion of effectiveness is viability in the long run. To make this criterion of assessment operational, I shall elucidate my concept of organization as opposed to an institution, and provide a cybernetic language to refer to complexity and control. The basic elements of the analysis are variety, or the number of possible states of a system, Ashby's law of requisite variety or the fact that variety can only be absorbed by variety and Beer's organizational model of any viable system. Under this conceptual framework three steps are developed to analyze organizational effectiveness, and they are presented in order of generality. The first is the organizational consistency. It is in general a metasystemic analysis of relevant institutions and their subsystems. Is it possible or not for them, considering their metasystemic relationships, to fulfill their "established purposes"? The second step after testing the consistency is the structural effectiveness. It is concerned with the distribution of variety along the organizational structure. Some structures are more effective than others in matching environmental variety. This step is concerned with the traditional dichotomy -- centralization versus decentralization. The third step is the organizational epistemology or the particular way in which systems acquire knowledge about their relevant environment. The necessary filtering of complexity suggests that systems select a set of variables or quantities which define the system-environment area of stability

Outcome-based theory of work motivation

This paper introduces an outcome-based theory of work motivation. This theory focuses on the individual's expected consequences of his or her action. We identify four different types of expected consequences, or motives. These motives lead to four types of motivation: extrinsic, intrinsic, contributive, and relational. We categorize these outcomes using two criteria: the perceived locus of causality, which defines the origin of the motivation, and the perceived locus of consequence, which defines who receives the consequences of the action. Individuals generally act based on a combination of extrinsic, intrinsic, contributive, and relational motivations, each one having a particular weight. We use the term motivational profile to refer to the particular combination of an individual's motivations in a certain context. Individuals may experience conflict when different alternatives convey different expected consequences (or motives). Resolution of conflicts among motives results in motivational learning. Specifically, the resolution of conflicts among motives of the same type results in calculative learning. On the other hand, the resolution of conflicts among motives of different types results in evaluative learning. Evaluative learning implies a change in the individual's motivational profile.work motivation; locus causality; motivational profile; extrinsic motivation; intrinsic motivation; contributive motivation; relational motivation;