Observatorio (OBS*)

TV Câmara, TV pública: As TVs legislativas brasileiras na transição para a plataforma digital

Com a migração da televisão brasileira do padrão analógico para a plataforma digital, iniciada em 2006, os canais de interesse público criados a partir da Lei da Cabodifusão (Lei 8.977/1995) rediscutem seu modelo e se organizam em redes. O objetivo principal é garantir espaço no cenário que começa a se reconfigurar. Neste texto, examinaremos o caso da TV Câmara, emissora da Câmara dos Deputados. A partir dessa experiência, poderemos refletir sobre as características e a importância das TVs legislativas no campo televisivo não-comercial, amadurecendo as discussões sobre os sistemas estatal e público de radiodifusão. O objetivo é avaliar que tipo de papel é exercido por essas emissoras: em que medida são canais estatais institucionais, sem autonomia e voltados prioritariamente para proteger a imagem dos órgãos que as mantêm? Não poderiam ser considerados, como pretendem, veículos de comunicação pública, que contribuem para ampliar o debate democrático e tornar as instituições mais sujeitas ao controle dos cidadãos e mais abertas à participação popular?

With the migration of Brazilian television to the digital platform, launched in 2006, the channels of public interest created after the Cable Television Law (Law 8.977/1995) are discussed again and organize themselves into networks. The main objective is to ensure space in the scenario of digital communications that begins to configure itself. In this paper, we examine the case of TV Câmara, a station of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. From this experience, we discuss the characteristics and importance of the legislative channels in the field of noncommercial television, including the questions about the state systems and public broadcasting. The objective is to evaluate what kind of role is played by these stations: in which extent these channels are governmental and institutional, without autonomy and directed primarily to protect the image of the organs that keep them? Could be they counted, as they intended, as vehicle of public communication, which help to broaden the democratic debate and make the institutions more subject to the control of citizens and more open to popular participation?

A TV do Mundial

No último ano da primeira década do século XXI, quase a entrar na era da televisão digital, importa saber que modelo de TV existe em Portugal. A análise da programação informativa destinada a acompanhar o Campeonato do Mundo de Futebol 2010 ajudará, decerto, a encontrar respostas. Neste artigo, apresentamos um estudo que incidiu em formatos informativos sobre este grande evento mediático, emitidos nos canais generalistas e temáticos entre os dias 11 de Junho e 11 de Julho de 2010 (datas de arranque e fecho do Mundial de Futebol da África do Sul). Essa análise, que incidiu em 604 emissões, procurou conhecer as formas de integração do telespectador nas emissões televisivas e quem foi chamado aos estúdios televisivos para participar nos debates aí promovidos. Os dados apurados demonstram claramente que esta TV do Mundial continua pouco aberta à participação do público e circunscrita a um grupo restrito de convidados, a maior parte dos quais oriundos da classe jornalística. Não é possível falar-se numa terceira fase do audiovisual. A hiper-televisão pode esperar.

In the last year of the first decade of the 21st century, in the verge of breaking into the era of digital television, it is important to know what kind of television model is available in Portugal. The analysis of the news coverage of the FIFA 2010 World Cup will certainly help find the answers. In this article, we present a study that focused on news formats related to this great media event, broadcasted in both generalist and cable news networks between the 11th of June and the 11th of July 2010 (the opening and closing dates of the competition). That analysis, based upon 604 broadcasts, sought to discover the means for viewer integration in television broadcasts and who was summoned by the television studios to participate in the discussions that they promoted. The data collected clearly shows that this World Cup TV is still very much closed to public participation and circumscribed to a small group of guests, most of who come from the journalistic class. It seems to be impossible to mention a third stage in the audiovisual world. Hypertelevision can wait.

Logging into Diaspora: Media and Online Identity Narratives among Romanians in Ireland

This article provides an empirical account of the way members of the Romanian community in Ireland use media (and essentially the online space) as sources for their collective feelings of diasporic identification and also to negotiate and articulate these identity narratives. Diasporic identities are here understood as ongoing processes of understanding themselves and, at the same time, being defined by others. Identities are thus constructed at the intersection of the continuously flowing boundaries between Us and Them. It is at the boundaries that symbolic space is negotiated and identities are fiercely debated, constructed and re-constructed. Some of the existing studies (Nedelcu, 2000; Hiller and Franz, 2004) confirm that the Internet undeniably meets the basic informational and communication needs of an ethnic community, thus being an intrinsic part in the life of many diasporic communities. The study presented here aims to reach further and explore the complex meaning and the role of virtual space in the process of articulation of diasporic narratives of identity. This ethnographic study focuses on the online discussion forum of the Romanian Community in Ireland. The forum was chosen as the preferred research context mainly because it constitutes a lively debate arena; it is the pulsating heart that keeps the community alive. The study presents an analysis of data collected over a six-year period (2004-2010) in the forum archives.

Os jovens e a rádio (em Portugal): Uma geração perdida?

Nos Estados Unidos está quantificada a erosão nas audiências de rádio entre os públicos mais jovens, mas essa investigação está por fazer em Portugal. Com este trabalho pretendemos mostrar, através de números oficiais, que a erosão também se verifica, relacionando-a com a realidade digital. Por outras palavras, se é verdade que a crise da rádio começou antes da chegada da Internet, esta está a contribuir para que se possa falar num divórcio entre os mais jovens e a rádio.

In the United States, radio erosion in younger audiences is already measured, but this research is still to be done in Portugal. In this paper we intend to show, by official data, that this erosion is also observed, linking it with the digital reality. In other words, if it is true that the crisis of the radio started before the arrival of the Internet, it is also true that this digitalization is leading to a divorce between youth and radio.

Un manifiesto para el hacedor audiovisual

El presente documento busca establecer la relación Medios Audiovisuales - Realidad como la noción fundamental que desarrollan los dispositivos temporales de la imagen. Para hacer visible dicha intención, se ha preparado una crítica al estado actual de la relación, se ha respaldado el proceso desde la historia del dispositivo y la lógica transdisciplinar contemporánea, para finalmente plantear en el manifiesto la reinterpretación de la realidad desde nuevas nociones y lineamientos. En la elaboración del manifiesto se estableció una postura de observación como inicio, para que la contrastación bibliográfica lo nutriera teóricamente. Después se planteó una línea de pensamiento por derivación, que contara con los insumos para su posterior desarrollo. Finalmente, el carácter interpretativo del proceso terminó por interrogar todo subjetivismo y toda ilusión de la imagen audiovisual, el cual se materializó en una pieza de tipo hermenéutico, que evidencia sus juicios mediante el poder de la palabra, mantiene su argumento desde la citación y acompaña la expresión con un decálogo de ejemplos.

This document seeks to analize the relationship between Audiovisual Media and Reality as the fundamental notion of Image developed by temporary devices. To make such intention visible, a critique of the current state of this relationship has been prepared from the history of the device to the contemporary transdisciplinary logic, to finally propose in this manifesto the reinterpretation of reality from new notions and guidelines. During the preparation of this manifesto, a starting position of observation was established according to the analysis of the state of the art as a theoretical contribution. Then, a line of thought was proposed as an input for its further development. Finally, the interpretative nature of the analysis ended up questioning any subjectivism or illusion of the audiovisual image, according to a hermeneutic point of view, that shows its judgments through the power of word, sustains its argument from quotations and accompanies the expression with a series of examples.

Jornal Pessoal: Modelo de imprensa contra-hegemônica na Amazônia brasileira

A reconstituição da história do Jornal Pessoal é o objetivo central deste artigo. Considerado a mais importante e longeva experiência alternativa do jornalismo na Amazônia brasileira, o periódico é conduzido solitariamente pelo jornalista Lúcio Flávio Pinto. Criado em 1987, em Belém, no Estado do Pará, representa um modelo de imprensa contra-hegemônica no Brasil da pós-ditadura. Tem na ausência de publicidade uma de suas principais características. A linha editorial é inspirada no I.F Stones Weekly, um semanário produzido durante 19 anos nos EUA, pelo jornalista Isidore Stone. Este estudo visa discutir as razões da existência e longevidade do Jornal Pessoal, que sobrevive a despeito de uma intensa campanha de processos na Justiça. Também pretende demonstrar de que forma seu editor consolida, por meio do jornal, a função de intelectual público, a qual incorporou depois de exercer o jornalismo diário por 21 anos. A história do JP, seus campos de interesse, e suas preocupações quanto aos fundamentos e ao exercício da profissão, são os eixos de investigação do estudo, que utiliza como procedimentos metodológicos a pesquisa documental e bibliográfica, entrevista e análise de conteúdo.

The historical reconstitution of Jornal Pessoal is the main goal of this paper. Considered as the most important and lasting experience of alternative journalism in brazilian Amazon, the newspaper is lead by the journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto. Created in 1987, in Belém (state of Pará), it represents a model of counter-hegemonic press in Brazil, during the post dictatorship period. The Jornal Pessoal has the absence of advertising as one of its most important characteristics. Its editorial guideline is inspired in the I.F Stones Weekly, self-published for 19 years in U.S.A, by the journalist Isidore Stone. This study intends to discuss the reasons of the existence and lasting of Jornal Pessoal, which survives inspite of an intense campaign against it, in the court. The study also tries to demonstrate how its editor consolidates, by the newspaper, a function of public intellectual, which he incorporated after working in daily journalism for 21 years. The JP's history, its interests fields, and his concerns about the foundations and practice of journalism are the axes of this investigation, that uses documental and bibliographic research, interview and content analyses as methodological procedures.

Top marks: How the media got Swedes to vaccinate against swine flu

Based on Bourdieus theory of social capital, this article analyses Swedes willingness to vaccinate during the swine flu outbreak in autumn 2009. The analysis is based partly on responses to a survey of 3,000 Swedes that was conducted when the virus was spreading, and partly on a comprehensive content analysis of the largest Swedish news medias coverage of swine flu. The starting point is a model where peoples vaccination willingness is analysed against the background of their social capital, media consumption, perceived concern about catching the virus, and trust in how the authorities were handling the influenza virus. The results show that social capital in terms of class affiliation, education and profession in covariance with media consumption impacted both the perception of concern and trust in the authorities, and that, in this case, trust in the authorities had greater significance for the rate of vaccination than the perception of concern.

The New England Execution Sermon: Texts, Rituals, and Power

This paper uses the topic of the New England execution sermon to make an argument about how social classes use, and then lose, their power to control communication media. The class in question here is the Puritan clergy, once a dominant group in colonial New England. The author constructs the argument primarily through the use of three different sets of literature. First, the theoretical literature on the use of media technologies as power (Innis, Marvin, and others). Second, the secondary historical literature that already exists on the phenomenon of the execution sermon. Third, the primary sources, which are 73 different sermons listed in the early American imprints series (both First and Second series). I argue that the clergys loss of control over how to portray the ritualized retribution of the execution provides us with a case study of how dominant classes use media to control populations, and how they lose that control.

A mensagem nas eleições presidenciais portuguesas: os cartazes e slogans entre 1976 e 2006

O artigo presente tem como objectivo a análise das representações discursivas, políticas e dos valores contidos nos slogans das eleições presidenciais portuguesas, a partir de 1976, data das primeiras eleições presidenciais pós-revolução de 1974, até 2006. Os resultados do estudo incidirão na análise da diferenciação discursiva, política, ideológica e dos valores contidos nos slogans de campanha. Do ponto de vista metodológico, este estudo utiliza a análise de conteúdo, suportada na vertente qualitativa e inferencial, direccionada para os conteúdos informacionais considerados.

This chapters objective is the analysis of a set of discursive and political representations as well as the analysis of the values contained on the slogans of the Portuguese presidential elections, from 1976, when the first presidential election occurred, after the 1974 revolution, till 2006. The results of the study will focus the analysis of the discursive, political and ideological differentiation contained in the campaign slogans. In methodological terms, the present study is based on the content analysis technique, supported in a qualitative and inferential view, focused on the considered informational contents.

Queer theory and change: Towards a pragmatic approach to resistance and subversion in media research on gay and lesbian identities

This paper wants to challenge the tendency in media studies on gay and lesbian identities to remain within two dominant paradigms: the essentialist or the post-structuralist traditions. Consequently, we will elaborate on the question: if media research emphasizes social change, should it mainly adopt a political and strategic identity claim which refers to essentialism, or, should it acknowledge discourses as more important, and therefore use post-structural and queer theoretical insights? Since we discuss the case of gay and lesbian identities, we will focus on possible resistance in popular culture, which mainly involves offering alternatives to the continuous representation of heteronormativity. We will argue that for social change to occur, there needs to be a symbiosis between agency and structure. To this end, a dialectic approach is needed that bridges the gaps between, on the one hand, a post-structuralist project that creates awareness of norms, discourse and hegemony, and on the other, identity politics that have the potential to change laws and institutions. This paper will offer a mainly theoretical exploration and will use illustrations from popular media culture with a focus on television. To this end, this paper will illustrate how LGBT-targeted television channels employ the discussed strategies of resistance.

Banal journalism or a crash between agency and professional norms: Considerations around mainstream journalism covering dramatic events

Using some recent examples as a starting point, this paper discusses catastrophe reporting. The claim is that catastrophe reporting reveals some sore points in journalistic professionalism as a whole. The theoretical frames are sought from research on agency. According to this approach, distances can be overcome through a purely personal effort. The agency component potentially invites the spectators to feel and act for the sufferers. In order to do that, journalistic professionals are compelled to use new tools in news reporting: emotions and sources, which qualify via experience and suffering rather than rationality and observation. The basic question here is whether the journalistic profession itself, with its fixed and stereotyped norms and practices, has driven the profession into a delicate situation. Natural, participatory contact with the people-on-the-street is regulated by professional rules. Accordingly, the profession tends to express itself with clumsy, even vulgar and artificial terms; professional ethics cannot follow the new trend.

Definindo a agenda dos agenda-setters: estratégias, oportunidades e constrangimentos ao agendamento mediático na era das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação

A tese defendida neste trabalho joga-se no primeiro dos quadros que Viana (1995) considera constituírem o ciclo de vida das políticas públicas[1], ou seja, sobre o agendamento enquanto dimensão de acção inscrita no conceito de influência. Pretende-se a equação das estratégias, oportunidades e constrangimentos colocados actualmente às organizações que pretendem inserir na agenda mediática determinados temas, a partir de uma releitura e revalorização do conceito de agenda-setting, numa era em que as Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação se revelam instrumentos incontornáveis de acção política.