Observatorio (OBS*)

Re-Evaluating the Political Press: A Case Study on Political, Economic and Journalistic Functioning of the Inter-War Czechoslovak Party-press Newspaper Národní listy, and its Publishing Company the Prague Stock Printery (PAT)

This article attempts to re-assess the often negative evaluations of the political press, through a detailed analysis of a case study from inter-war Czechoslovakia, the newspaper Národní listy, and its publishing company the Prague Stock Printery (PAT), which were affiliated to the National Democratic Party. The analysis is theoretically framed by a discussion of notions of party-press parallelism and political parallelism, and how these political models are evaluated within the contemporary literature. In the following parts, an extensive (but necessary) contextualization is offered, which first focuses on the political-economic history of inter-war Czechoslovakia, and a description of its media landscape, and then details the workings of PAT and Národní listy. The analytical parts first describe the financial, managerial and editorial situation of PAT and Národní listy, and then evaluates their functioning at the economic, political and journalistic level. This evaluation shows the complexities of the political model from within the actual publishing practice, and demonstrates both the advantages and problems of the political model, compensating for the frequent exclusively negative evaluations of this model.

News Coverage, Media Relations and Public Affairs: the case of “Escutas de Belém”

Este artigo aborda a problemática dos assuntos públicos e sua cobertura noticiosa, assim como, questões legais e deontológicas associadas ao trabalho dos jornalistas. Tendo como objetivo evidenciar a discrepância entre a prática jornalística e as exigências éticas da função, analisamos o caso Escutas de Belém recorrendo à sua descrição cronológica, assim como, à análise de notícias de imprensa sobre o tema tendo em conta sete unidades: as chamadas de capa, local de inserção, dimensão da inserção, seção de inserção, fontes noticiosas, género jornalístico e caráter da peça. Concluímos com a classificação do caso como um não-caso tendo em conta as suas consequências e cobertura jornalística caraterizada negativamente face à predominância de peças de opinião e editoriais.

This article discusses the problem of public affairs and its news coverage, as well as legal and ethical issues associated with the work of journalists. Aiming to highlight the discrepancy between the journalistic and ethical requirements of the function, we analyze the case "Escutas de Belém" referring to its chronological description, as well as the analysis of press releases on the subject considering seven units: first page call, place of insertion, size of insert, insert section, news sources, journalistic style and character of the piece. We conclude with the classification of the case as a "no case" in view of its consequences and negative media coverage featured the face of the predominance of opinion pieces and editorials.

Predictive ability of Twitter, electoral impact and activity in elections to Galician Parliament: an analysis with LIWC tool

Diversos estudios tratan de comprobar la capacidad predictiva y de influencia de Twitter en procesos electorales. En este marco, el presente artículo ofrece un análisis comparativo de la actividad en Twitter de los partidos políticos y candidatos durante las últimas elecciones autonómicas celebradas en Galicia (5.353 tweets analizados) con el objetivo de encontrar semejanzas o diferencias significativas y determinar si existen patrones estratégicos y comunes en cuanto a su utilización, tanto en el contexto en el que son publicados como en el aspecto cognitivo y emocional, aplicando la herramienta Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). El estudio concluye que se apuesta más por usar las cuentas de partidos que las de los candidatos, que los temas dominantes de campaña son los genéricos y que no se puede establecer una relación causa-efecto entre el incremento de uso de Twitter y unos mejores resultados electorales, ya que uno y otro se observan, incluso, como inversamente proporcionales.

Several studies attempt to test the predictive power and influence of Twitter in electoral processes. In this context, the present article provides a comparative analysis of the Twitter activity of political parties and candidates during the last campaign for the regional elections in Galicia (5.353 tweets analyzed) in order to find similarities or significant differences and determine if it is perceived strategic and common patterns in their use, both in the context in which they are issued as cognitive and emotional aspect, applying the tool "Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count "(LIWC). The study concludes that accounts of the parties are used most that the candidates, the dominant campaign issues are generic and can not establish a cause-effect relationship between increased use of Twitter and a best electoral results, since, both are seen even as inversely proportional.

Personal style bloggers: the most popular visual composition principles and themes on instagram

Instagram is one of the main social networking services personal style bloggers choose for interacting with followers. The goal of the present study is to detect the most common principles of visual composition and themes used by the worlds ten most influential bloggers. To achieve this goal we have employed a content analysis, using a sample of 503 Instagram images. The results indicate that the bloggers visual pattern of choice on Instagram corresponds to a wide shot with a full body view of the blogger against a significant background. The shot is taken at eye level angle and the predominant visual elements -the blogger and/or the product- are located in the centre of the photograph.

Flows of communication and ‘influentials’ in Twitter: A comparative approach between Portugal and Spain during 2014 European Elections

The research about the concept of influence on Twitter is still underdeveloped. This work is a theoretical and empirical approach on how politicians are engaging with citizens and/or journalists, and how these social conversations are framed under specific topics and users. The idea of new influentials on political communication in the new media ecosystem, as some studies found (Dang-Xuan et al, 2013), can offer empirical pursuit of the suggested two-step flow model as applied to the agenda-setting process (Weimann et al., 2007) in the case of the microblogging for campaigning online. Following the recent research about how politicians try to reach their potential audience (Vaccari and Valeriani, 2013; 2013a), this paper analyses the social conversations on Twitter driven by politicians, the main topics in these political conversations and the kind of flows of communication (direct or indirect) between politicians, journalists and citizens. This research explores the differences and similarities about influence on Twitter during European elections in two countries with similar political and economic contexts: Portugal and Spain.

Reformulating proximity television model in the context of the economic crisis in Catalonia (2008-2014)

Entre 2008 y 2014, la administración catalana ha desplegado una serie de políticas de comunicación que han transformado notablemente el modelo de televisión local diseñado en Cataluña en 2004-2005. Esto supone un giro radical respecto a las políticas públicas llevadas a cabo entre 2005 y 2007, cuando se apostó por un modelo propio de televisión local en el momento de gestionar la transición hacia la TDT. Este artículo describe detalladamente el proceso de modificación legal de ese modelo. También aporta una interpretación tanto del sentido de esa modificación como de sus implicaciones. Deficiencias del modelo definido en 2004-05, la crisis económica pero también intereses políticos del Gobierno a partir de 2012 aparecen como las razones fundamentales. A partir de un diseño metodológico cualitativo aplicado sobre un caso relevante, la investigación presentada aquí contribuye a generar conocimiento sobre un objeto poco tratado: el impacto de la crisis sobre la televisión local española y las reacciones de la administración ante la delicada situación de un sector siempre débil.

Between 2008 and 2014, the Catalan administration has deployed a communication policy that has dramatically transformed the model of local television designed in Catalonia in 2004-2005. This supposed a turnabout from public policies carried out since 2005, when Catalonia opted for its own model of local television in order to manage the transition to DTT. This article describes in detail the process of legal change of that model. It also provides an interpretation of both the sense of that change and its implications. Shortcomings of the model defined in 2004-05, the economic crisis but also political interests of the Catalan Government from 2012 appear to be the main reasons. From a qualitative methodological applied on a relevant case, the research presented here helps to generate knowledge about a little treated object: the impact of the crisis on the Spanish local television and the reactions of the administration facing the delicate situation of an always weak sector.

Distribution of contente in mobility: The case of Spanish generalist television broadcasters

La revolución tecnológica ha facilitado que la distribución de contenidos audiovisuales se realice más allá de los soportes tradicionales como el televisor y se extienda a los dispositivos móviles (teléfonos, tabletas, etc.). Las cadenas de televisión distribuyen los contenidos en todas las plataformas posibles y ven en los dispositivos móviles, una vía para el consumo multiplataforma de sus contenidos. El espectador pasa a ser un usuario que puede generar contenido o multiplicar la incidencia del mismo. Esta investigación se centra en el análisis de los contenidos que distribuyen en tabletas, los operadores de televisión generalista en España (TVE, Mediaset y Atresmedia), así como el estudio de la interactividad que mantienen en estos dispositivos. Para realizar el análisis se ha utilizado una plantilla original diseñada por los autores para identificar cada uno de los elementos que interfieren en la interactividad de las aplicaciones investigadas y también, se ha elaborado un análisis exhaustivo de la oferta de contenidos que se propone en cada uno de las aplicaciones IOS y ANDROID analizadas: Rtve.es | Tableta, +tve, Atresmedia conecta, Atresplayer, Mitele y Mio TV.

The technological revolution has facilitated the distribution of audiovisual content beyond traditional media such as TV, as well as the extension to mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.) The television broadcasters distribute their contents via all possible platforms, and they regard mobile devices as a way for multiplatform consumption of their contents. The viewer becomes a user that can generate content and/or multiply its impact. This research focuses on the analysis of the contents distributed via tablets by generalist television broadcasters in Spain (TVE, Mediaset, and Atresmedia), as well as the study of the interactivity that they keep in these devices. To perform the analysis, an original template designed by the authors was used, looking for the identification of the elements that interfere with the interactivity of the studied applications. Also, a thorough analysis of the contents offered in each of the investigated IOS and ANDROID applications (Rtve.es | Tableta, +tve, Atresmedia conecta, Atresplayer, Mitele, and Mio TV) has been performed.

Television sex education panics? An analysis of three public debates in The Netherlands

In 2013, television sex education show Dokter Corrie instigated a heated public debate in the Netherlands. This study places the Dokter Corrie uproar in a broader perspective and identifies the moral dimensions in the reactions to three Dutch television sex education shows: Open en Bloot (1974), Spuiten en Slikken (2005) and Dokter Corrie (2013). A contemporary notion of moral panics and media panics provides a suitable theoretical basis for understanding the multiplicity of voices, the reflexive relationships between interest groups and the deliberate use of media tools in the debates about Dutch television sex education. The qualitative frame analysis and quantitative content analysis led to a detailed account of the three public debates and showed that moral attitudes concerning the problematic conditions of television sex education recurred over time. The resulting four frames each revolve around the claim that sex education needs to be handled carefully. The Indispensable education frame and the Inadequate attempt frame regard television as the right channel for this goal. In contrast, voices within the Degenerating media frame and the Religious anxiety frame claim that television sex education threatens the social sexualisation of children.