Dr Jiménez-Martínez’s first book, Media and the Image of the Nation during Brazil's 2013 Protests, was among the first academic studies developing a developed a comprehensive analysis of the role of the media in the communication and contestation of nationhood in the current digital, global and content-intensive media environment, using as example the Brazilian demonstrations of June 2013. The protests conflicted with the positive ‘nation-brand’ that local authorities tried to project as hosts of the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic games in 2016. The book built on empirical data of around 800 articles and television reports from Brazil, the US and Western Europe, and a vast qualitative material from sixty-four original interviews with government officials, activists, and Brazilian and foreign journalists. It made empirical and conceptual contributions to literature on promotional cultures, nation branding, and nationalism. It was positively reviewed in journals and academic blogs such as the International Journal of Press/Politics, Nations and Nationalism, Visual Studies and the London School of Economics Review of Books, with commentators describing it as an ‘important’, ‘stimulating’ and ‘fascinating’ reading.
His work on protests and public diplomacy has been equally praised. The Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation’s blog dedicated a whole entry to the article ‘The Instrumental Mediated Visibility of Violence’, stating that it was a ‘helpful and thought-provoking’ work that advanced research on protest news coverage. Bruce Gregory, member of the Public Diplomacy Council in the United States, stated that his work on protests and soft power was among the ‘must-read’ publications for scholars and practitioners in public diplomacy.
Dr Jiménez-Martínez has received several awards, including the 2021 Anthony D. Smith Award to outstanding article published in Nations and Nationalism (for ‘Digital nationalism: Understanding the role of digital media in the rise of ‘new’ nationalism, co-authored with Sabina Mihelj), an Honourable Mention in the 2021 ICA Annual Conference for best paper in Public Diplomacy Interest Group (for ‘Soft power and media power: How foreign correspondents react to Brazil’s nation branding Initiatives’), a second place in the 2022 Jay Blumler Best Article Award of The International Journal of Press Politics (for 'The instrumental mediated visibility of violence: The 2013 protests in Brazil and the limitations of the protest paradigm'), and the 2023 Top Faculty Award Paper of the ICA Public Diplomacy Division (for ‘Threats, truths and strategies: The overlooked relationship between protests, nation branding and public diplomacy’, co-authored with Alina Dolea).