Luis Miguel Romero Rodriguez
@romero-rodriguez.com
Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology
Rey Juan Carlos University
Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez es Profesor Titular de Comunicación Estratégica en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid, España), y desde mayo de 2022 está acreditado al cuerpo docente de Catedráticos de Universidad por la Agencia Nacional de evaluación del profesorado (ANECA). En la actualidad es profesor responsable del Máster Universitario en Comunicación de la Salud de la URJC y profesor de su programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas, en la línea de investigación Comunicación. Asimismo, es profesor invitado en varios programas de postgrado en la Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo (Ecuador), la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, y la Universidad Nebrija (España), siendo colaborador externo de su programa de Doctorado en Comunicación Digital y Medios.
EDUCATION
Doctor en Comunicación por las universidades de Huelva, Sevilla, Málaga y Cádiz (2014), premio extraordinario de Doctorado por la Universidad de Huelva (2015) y Máster en Comunicación Social por la Universidad de Almería (España). Ha realizado postgrados en Derecho y Políticas Internacionales por la Universidad Central de Venezuela y en Docencia Universitaria por la Universidad Nueva Esparta (Venezuela). Me licencié en Comunicación Social, mención Comunicaciones Corporativas y en Derecho por la Universidad Santa María (Venezuela).
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Communication, General Social Sciences, Health (social science), Cultural Studies
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Antonio Ponce-Rojo, Tomás Fontaines-Ruiz, and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
Frontiers Media SA
The increasing integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in digital health is transforming apomediation into AIMediation, which reconfigures patient autonomy and raises ethical concerns that must be addressed. This study examines how algorithmic curation, personalized interfaces, and conversational agents redefine what information becomes visible and trustworthy, generating an illusion of autonomy that can mask the erosion of real decision-making capacity. Based on an exploratory synthesis of the recent literature ( n = 38), three dimensions are analyzed: algorithmic intermediation, perceived autonomy, and informational vulnerability, with attention to cognitive overload and the amplification of biases in seeking health information. Evidence indicates that AIMediation can improve access to and understanding of health information but also intensify risks, such as misinformation and reliance on opaque outcomes, posing challenges to safeguarding transparency, patient agency, and equitable access to reliable information.
Tomás Fontaines-Ruiz, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Antonio Ponce Rojo, and David Paúl Rosales Herrera
Ediciones Profesionales de la Informacion SL
YouTube está transformando la mediación informativa sobre dolor lumbar al facilitar la transición de fuentes científicas e institucionales hacia modelos descentralizados de conocimiento. A través de canales con millones de visualizaciones, los usuarios generan interacciones que fomentan el compromiso, el cambio comportamental y la apomediación, aunque con potenciales riesgos de desinformación. Este estudio analiza las interacciones en videos de YouTube sobre dolor lumbar para identificar los temas y sentimientos predominantes, revelar las dinámicas apomediarias y comprender su contribución en la transición de la información sanitaria hacia la apomediación. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo-evaluativo con un corpus de 30.720 comentarios extraídos de 100 videos, analizados mediante técnicas estadísticas de procesamiento de datos textuales para detectar sentimientos latentes y dinámicas de desintermediación médica. Los hallazgos muestran que los usuarios de YouTube son participantes activos en la construcción del conocimiento, resignificando la información a partir de experiencias individuales y colectivas. Las emociones desempeñan un papel clave en la validación y la formación de redes de apoyo, donde la gratitud fortalece la resiliencia y el miedo impulsa reflexiones críticas. Se concluye que la transición de la información a la apomediación se consolida mediante la interacción, reinterpretación y validación emocional, promoviendo redes de apoyo para el aprendizaje y afrontamiento del dolor lumbar.
Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
La unión de los monstruos y lo vegetal en el género fantástico ha sido una forma de trasladar la presencia de lo primitivo, lo antiguo y lo siniestro. Desde la mandrágora hasta los trífidos, la representación de las plantas como figuras monstruosas ha resultado un reflejo de los sentimientos más negativos del ser humano y de la falacia que supone la sensación de control o poder sobre la naturaleza. En esta línea, el objetivo de este artículo ha sido examinar cómo John Wyndham representó la monstruosidad vegetal en El día de los trífidos. Para tal fin se ha empleado un análisis de contenido de carácter descriptivo y explicativo, enmarcado dentro del diseño cualitativo con la técnica del análisis correlacional de corpus intertextual que examina paralelismos dentro de narrativas culturales. Los resultados muestran que la monstruosidad vegetal suele ser representada como el horror, misterio e insumisión de la naturaleza, cuyos intentos de control, por parte del ser humano, está destinado a salir mal. En definitiva, se trata de un análisis de caso y de un estudio teórico que pretende relacionar la vanidad humana con los desastres ecológicos a través de la literatura y el cine.
Javier Gil Quintana, José Javier Hueso Romero, and Luis Miguel Romero Rodríguez
MDPI AG
This study examines the scientific output on older adults’ use of social media by examining 2695 documents from the Web of Science database. These publications cover various areas, such as behavioral sciences, psychology, healthcare sciences, and computer sciences, and highlight institutions such as the University of Seville and the University of Michigan. The analysis was extended from 1995 to 2023, identifying 2012 as the year with the most significant increase. The United States led with 757 documents, followed by Spain with 511. Prominent authors include Jia Wu, Howard Giles, and Itai Himelboim. The study also highlighted frequent keywords such as “social networks, communication, and media”. A total of 41 countries were mentioned, and journals such as Profesional de la Información and Comunicar were analyzed. The historical perspective reveals theoretical connections between health, communication, and social networks in the elderly. Despite various challenges, such as the digital divide, the positive impact of social networks on the elderly stands out, providing a training demand for media education as an essential for all.
Luis M. Romero-Rodriguez and Bárbara Castillo-Abdul
SAGE Publications
Objective: This conceptual paper explores the transition from apomediation to AIMediation, allowing patients or users to independently seek and access health information on their own, often using the internet and social networks, rather than relying exclusively on the intermediation of health professionals. It examines how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) reconfigures the dynamics of informational authority, access, and user autonomy in digital health environments in light of the increasing use of generative AI tools in healthcare contexts. Method: This study examined how mediation models in health information have changed over time. It uses Eysenbach’s framework and new developments in large language models (LLMs). A new model was created to compare intermediation, apomediation, and AImediation. Results: AImediation emerges as a new paradigm in which patients or users interact directly with AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Gemini to access compiled multi-source health information. While this model retains the user autonomy characteristic of apomediation, it centralizes information flows and removes peer-based social layers. Key challenges include algorithmic opacity, prompt dependence, and the risk of misinformation due to hallucinations or biased outputs. Conclusion: AImediation redefines how individuals access and evaluate health information, requiring critical engagement from users and responsible development by technology providers. This framework calls for more research to determine how it affects patient actions, the roles of professionals, and the ethical use of AI in healthcare.
Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and Belén Puebla-Martínez
Informa UK Limited
Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez, Elio Quiroga Rodríguez, and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
Informa UK Limited
Carmen Herrero, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and Francisco José García-Peñalvo
Routledge
Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez, Bárbara Castillo-Abdul, Francisco Ábalos-Aguilera, and Luis M. Romero-Rodriguez
Emerald
Purpose This study aims to examine the aesthetic, narrative and ethical dimensions of postmodern audiovisual productions in the streaming era, focusing on how adolescence, mental health and violence are represented in Adolescence series. It aims to explore the ambivalence between “cute” and “macabre” esthetics and the implications of these portrayals for audience perception and media ethics. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, interpretive and exploratory methodology was adopted, combining textual analysis, visual semiotics and thematic analysis. Four independent coders – experts in communication, media studies and film – analyzed a purposive sample of Adolescence series. This study examines the aesthetic, narrative and ethical dimensions of postmodern audiovisual productions in the streaming era, focusing on how adolescence, mental health and violence are represented in Adolescence, a British television psychological crime drama series created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini (2024, WARP Films). Data triangulation was achieved through the integration of primary audiovisual texts, paratextual materials (posters, trailers and social media campaigns) and secondary sources (critical reviews, scholarly literature and audience commentary). Findings The findings indicate that Adolescence combines striking visual impact with a critical reflection on violence and suffering. While aesthetic excess can risk transforming pain into spectacle, the series simultaneously exposes the fragility of institutions and the vulnerability of parental figures, shifting the narrative focus from sensationalism to the structural roots of social conflict. These results contribute to the broader debate on the ethics of audiovisual culture by highlighting how political, economic and social dynamics shape the ways in which younger generations perceive the world, construct their identities and understand their place within society. Furthermore, the study suggests that future research should examine the role of streaming platforms in leveraging emotional impact to capture audience attention and assess whether such portrayals – particularly those depicting parental figures and institutions such as the police or schools in a negative light – may generate adverse effects on the perceptions and value frameworks of younger audiences. Originality/value By theorizing ethical ambivalence as a category for analyzing teen streaming narratives, this study contributes to ongoing debates on postmodern audiovisual culture. Beyond describing aesthetic strategies, it highlights the ethical risks and responsibilities these series entail for audiences, educators and platforms, opening avenues for future research on the social impact of streaming entertainment.
Tomas Fontaines-Ruiz, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Amelia Sanchez-Bracho, and Luis Reyes-Pérez
Informa UK Limited
Santiago Tejedor, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Jesús Martínez, and David Rull Ribó
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
La cobertura informativa sobre el suicidio debe tener especial tratamiento por parte de periodistas y medios de comunicación. Estudios previos confirman que la narrativa puede desencadenar imitadores e incluso pensamientos suicidas en personas con trastornos de salud mental. En este sentido, la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) y la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) han brindado varias directrices para la cobertura de este tema. Esta investigación analiza la cobertura del suicidio en los principales medios de comunicación de 20 países iberoamericanos a partir de un análisis de contenido y de encuadre informativo de diseño cuanti-cualitativo. Los resultados arrojan que la explicación al suicidio más común es multicausal seguida por la ambiental o de contexto. En línea con las recomendaciones de la OMS-OPS, la mayoría de informaciones intentan educar al público, aunque todavía sigue siendo una materia pendiente indicar en las notas sobre cómo y dónde buscar ayuda. Se observó que en general la mayoría de las informaciones utilizan fuentes mixtas, tanto de expertos como familiares/amigos de las víctimas. Sin embargo, del análisis cualitativo se extrae que algunos encuadres están salpicados de tópicos y lugares comunes, recayendo en coberturas que se alejan de las directrices, informando sobre detalles del hecho o estableciendo relaciones causa-efecto imposibles de verificar. En los casos que se evidenciaron enfoques constructivos pesó más el tono narrativo explicativo, aportando datos con los que hacerse una idea clara de la complejidad del tema.
Santiago Tejedor, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Jesús Martínez-Fernández, and David Rull-Ribó
Escuela Militar de Cadetes Jose Maria Cordova
Esta investigación determina cuáles son las principales estrategias de contenido editorial, redes sociales y visibilidad para mejorar el rendimiento y alcance de las publicaciones científicas de ciencias sociales de Iberoamérica. A partir de entrevistas semiestructuradas con los responsables de redes sociales y editores de las revistas con mayor perspectiva de crecimiento, ponderado por el índice h del Scimago Journal Rank (SJR), el trabajo identifica la preeminencia de temas que conectan con cuestiones actuales. La escasez de personal y la limitación presupuestaria condicionan el desarrollo de estrategias de divulgación y visibilidad de sus contenidos, que, por lo general, se perciben como excesivamente técnicos. La inteligencia artificial, por su parte, emerge como una herramienta de gran potencial, pero que todavía no ha sido incorporada a los procesos editoriales y divulgativos.
Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez and Bárbara Castillo-Abdul
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Santiago Tejedor, Laura Cervi, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and Stephanie Vick
MDPI AG
Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data have impacted different professional sectors in our society. Communication and journalism are clearly among them. From the automatic generation of content to the identification of topics of interest or monitoring of users’ usage habits, AI introduces important training challenges for professionals in the field of communication. Meanwhile, big data analytics enables data journalists to handle large amounts of information in an automated manner, allowing them to perform in-depth analysis of disorganized data. This study analyzes the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data in the curricula of journalism degrees offered by Spanish universities. The research employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the typology, syllabus, and distribution of subjects directly or indirectly addressing AI and big data topics, based on indicators such as structure, credit system, objectives, competencies, and professional profiles. The results reveal a scarce integration of AI and Big Data subjects in journalism curricula in Spain. Among the analyzed courses, only seven addressed data journalism as a complete course, while 19 introduced AI and Big Data as part of more general content. The study highlights the need for journalism education to adapt to the disruptive impact of AI and big data on the profession. It discusses the debate between focusing on teaching technological skills versus providing critical and ethical values. The research aims to contribute to the discussion on the readiness of journalism curricula to cope with technological advancements by analyzing the Spanish case.
Santiago Tejedor and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
MDPI AG
The Hospital Web Quality Multicriteria Analysis Model (HWQ) is constructed, designed, and validated in this research. For this purpose, we examined the web quality analysis models specialized in hospitals and health centers through a literature review and the most current taxonomies to analyze digital media. Based on the benchmarking and walkthrough methods, the analysis model was built and validated by a panel of experts (X = 3.54, CVI = 0.88, Score Σ = 45.58). To test its applicability and reliability, the model was pilot-tested on the websites of the ten public and private hospitals with the best reputation in Spain in 2022, according to the Merco Sanitario ranking. The results showed very similar web structures divided by specific proposals or sections of some centers. In this regard, this study identifies a general communication proposal in hospitals that does not adapt to the guidelines of screen-mediated communication, as well as a lack of personalization and disruptive storytelling ideation. In addition, the work concludes that Spanish hospitals, for the moment, have not opted for formats and technological developments derived from the possibilities of gamified content, 360° immersion, Virtual Reality (V.R), or Augmented Reality (A.R).
, Santiago Tejedor Calvo, Laura Cervi, , Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and
University of La Laguna
Religious tourism is an important economic and cultural driver for many destinations and is one of the fastest-growing sectors within the global tourism market. Based on a meta-analysis and review of emerging literature from the period 2019-2023 in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) of the Web of Science (WoS), this study analyses, from a quantitative-qualitative approach, the state-of-the-art research on this sub-category of tourism from a corpus of 500 documents. The most relevant results show that the COVID- 19 pandemic affected scientific production, with China, the United States, and Spain being the three countries that have published the most on the subject. Research on tourism to Christian and Islamic destinations appears most frequently. However, destinations linked to Hinduism tend to be over-represented with respect to numbers of people of this creed, which may be due to tourism specialising in meditation and wellness.
Santiago Tejedor-Calvo, David Rull-Ribo, Jesús Martínez, and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
Escuela Militar de Cadetes Jose Maria Cordova
Diferentes ejércitos del mundo han apostado por convertir sus sitios web en el centro de su estrategia comunicativa digital. Este trabajo examina y compara los sitios web de 14 unidades militares de élite de los cinco continentes para elaborar una taxonomía a partir de dimensiones e indicadores estructurados de usabilidad, contenidos, interactividad y accesibilidad. Para ello, a través de un análisis de contenido cuanti-cualitativo, que consta de 14 dimensiones temáticas, 36 indicadores y 69 variables, se ha desarrollado una etnografía digital cualitativa. El estudio identifica, entre otros aspectos, la importancia del componente dialógico y multiformato en el ciberespacio. Además, concluye que, en general, los ejércitos analizados apenas han incorporado tipologías de contenidos derivados de la gamificación, la inmersión y la virtualidad, entre otros.
Tomás Fontaines-Ruiz, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, Luis F. Reyes-Pérez, and Samuel Reyes-Hernández
Hipatia Press
El consumo de información en redes sociales se ha convertido en un comportamiento prevalente entre personas con enfermedades ortopédicas, que aprovechan el efecto de apomediación de plataformas para satisfacer sus necesidades informativas, descuidando los riesgos asociados. En este contexto, el objetivo de esta investigación es evaluar la calidad y el valor educativo del contenido relacionado con el dolor lumbar en español, difundido en YouTube. Esta evaluación emplea una metodología de análisis de contenido codificada a través de tres instrumentos ad hoc previamente validados. Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo-evaluativo en una muestra final de 70 videos. Los resultados indican que la información examinada presenta un bajo valor educativo, muestra deficiencias en el diseño educativo técnico, carece de precisión científica y claridad en el mensaje, y revela una autoridad epistemológica disminuida entre los creadores de contenido. Estos factores contribuyen a la generación potencial de confusión, interpretación errónea y difusión de información inapropiada relacionada con el manejo del dolor lumbar.
Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez
Intellect
Nowadays, the spectator lives surrounded by television series in which increasingly complex, depressing and denouncing themes proliferate. About this, the Netflix hit Squid Game (2021) is a clear representation of a mass culture increasingly virtuous in staging, as well as more horrifying, preachy and sensationalist. Based on the observation of the phenomenon that the series has meant, narrative content analysis has been carried out in which we have sought to find evidence of how mainstream culture continues to popularize and stylize audio-visual abjection in the context of the third golden age of television and the fascination with the plots of torture porn or postmodern cinema of cruelty. The results show that Squid Game is a faithful product of its time: as a current prestige series, it is dark, depressing, pessimistic and has an artistic aura without neglecting entertainment and explores human complexity in themes such as suicide, genocide and violence.
Santiago Tejedor, Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, and Mónica Gracia-Villar
Bastas Publications
The current media ecosystem, marked by immediacy and social networks dynamics, has created a fertile field for disinformation. Faced with its exponential growth, since 2014, research has focused on combating false content in the media. From a descriptive approach, this study has analyzed 200 documents on fact-checking and fake news published between 2014 and 2022 in scientific journals indexed in Scopus. This study has found that Europe and the United States are leading the way in the number of journals and authors publishing on the subject. The United States universities are the ones that host the most significant number of authors working on fact-checking, while the methodologies used, mostly <i>ad hoc</i> due to the novelty of the topic, allow to reflect on the need to promote work focused on the design, testing, and evaluation of prototypes or real experiences within the field. The most common contributions analyzed include typologies of false content and media manipulation mechanisms, models for evaluating and detecting disinformation, proposals to combat false content and strengthen verification mechanisms, studies on the role of social media in the spread of disinformation, efforts to develop media literacy among the public and journalists, case studies of fact-checkers, identification of factors that influence the belief in fake news, and analysis of the relationship between disinformation, verification, politics, and democracy. It is concluded that it is essential to develop research that connects the academy with the industry to raise awareness of the need to address these issues among the different actors in the media scenario.
Bárbara Castillo-Abdul, Eglée Ortega Fernandez, and Luis M. Romero-Rodriguez
Emerald
PurposeThis study aims to analyze the content on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Gucci, Prada and Ermenegildo Zegna on the social networks Instagram, Facebook and TikTok in order to examine the focus of the publications of these luxury brands, what type of content is more frequent and which ones generate more interaction and engagement.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretive content analysis of a sample of 92 posts on CSR published between December 2021 and June 2022 is used. For this purpose, an analysis sheet validated through theoretical constructs and pilot testing is used.FindingsMost of the social responsibility content of the fashion brands analyzed is linked to the use of sustainable materials, the protection of natural spaces and, in the particular case of Prada, the protection of the oceans. The posts that achieve the highest interactions are videos and photo reels. Although the strategies that significantly increase brands' reach on social networks are collaborations and joint posts with other fashion brands, as is the case of Gucci with NorthFace and Prada with Adidas. Also, one of the main findings of this research has been to identify that brands may be using TikTok – perhaps experimentally – to reach stakeholders in Asian countries, especially China, where other platforms such as Instagram or Facebook may have a more limited reach.Originality/valueThis research shows that the social responsibility activities of luxury fashion brands leverage the content marketing strategy in social networks. It also demonstrates the importance of the Asian market (mainly Chinese) in the outreach strategies of brands, as is the case of Gucci and Prada, which bet on CSR activities for the protection of the Asian tiger in the framework of the year of the tiger in the Chinese horoscope, as well as the publication of certain content on TikTok.
Bárbara Castillo-Abdul, Luis Miguel Romero-Rodríguez, and Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez
University of Minho
This research examines the main common characteristics among the contents of five eco-influencer accounts from different Western countries. A quantitative content analysis was performed on 187 Instagram posts published by eco-influencers from the United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, Spain, and Peru. The topics that eco-influencers deal with the most are promoting veganism, spirituality, environmental and political claims, product advertising (their own and third-party), and personal life, generating the most interactions in the accounts. Carousels win on engagement for eco-influencers on Instagram despite videos being sponsors’ favorite format. Both sponsored content and sponsors themselves are well-received, with over half of all posts featuring them. It seems evident that the social capital of influencers encourages environmental commitment, although there is a particular bias to appreciate the person more than their activist message. In light of the results, this research contributes to the social capital theory of influencers by demonstrating that influencers show personal content and emotional appeals, such as activities with their families, personal reflections, and political statements that give them a high sense of authenticity, but which, blurs the barriers between the public and private spheres.