Latin American telenovelas are often considered an interesting case in international communication theory and research, illustrating the potential of Third World cultural industries for resistance, alternatives and even contra-flow. In this article we first shed some light on the main theoretical frameworks and empirical arguments in the international telenovela debate. In the second part we focus on the contra-flow argument in relation to the worldwide exports of telenovelas. In the case study we concentrate on the telenovela flow to Europe. Both theory and case study stress the weakness of the contra-flow argument.

Objectives: While online health information (OHI) has become ubiquitous, little is known about its use by middle-aged and older adults. This contribution examines the role of OHI and its influence on the patient–physician relationship. Method: This qualitative study reports the thematic analysis of 40 semistructured, in-depth interviews with Flemish middle-aged and older adults between the ages of 50 and 80 years. Results: Middle-aged and older adults obtain OHI pre- and post-consultation, albeit with different motivations and in search of different types of information. Patients strategically and carefully introduce OHI in the clinical encounter. “Doctor Google” expands the traditional patient–physician dyad into an information triangle. Discussion: The findings have implications for policy guidance and clinical practice. Public campaigns against “Googling” for health information might have to be amended to be successful. Importantly, physicians are increasingly expected to refer to and appraise OHI and put it into the individual patient context.

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Recent qualitative audience research on the reception of US fiction abroad has been presented as a valuable new perspective in studying the world-wide appeal and impact of American programming. However the concentration on the decoding of US fiction alone (usually Dallas) has stimulated an essential and decontextualized position on these issues. The results from a comparative reception analysis (comparing the reception of an American fiction programme and a similar domestic one by respondents in a small European country) show that several current concepts and arguments on the functioning, the appeal, the characteristics and the (possible) impact of US fiction should be revised. More generally, cross-textual comparative reception analysis can be useful in exploring nuances in audience activity and in the polysemic character of different texts. Methodologically, a multi-method approach is used to show that diverse techniques can be incorporated into a more elaborated scheme for analysis of the reception process, which consists of several substantial `moments'.

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