Abstract

Reputation, credibility, and accountability are the cornerstones of governing public service media in order to sustain and increase its legitimacy in society. To achieve this objective the management policies of public service media must be maintained and enhanced according to their mission. It is also necessary to develop strategies to improve the communication of the social value of pubic broadcasting in the media ecosystem. On this basis, this paper discusses the need for and challenges of stabilizing assessment indicators for public broadcasters’ news services.

Abstract

Instagram has become an important tool for the production and distribution of political images. Our objective is to analyze its strategic management in a context of political and institutional crisis. Based on our own model of content analysis, nine thematic and formal categories associated with the spectacularization of politics during the most intense phase of the independence process in Catalonia, between June 2017 and April 2018, have been reviewed. The sample includes 188 images published by the top 10 leaders of the Catalan and Spanish political map, both in votes of their parties and followers Instagram. The results show a regular political use characterized by intense personalization and orientation towards professional issues. In addition, a use of spectacular resources is detected, such as emotional appeal, the hybridization of spaces, and the experimentation with expressive filters.

Abstract

The currently dominant model of scientific production in the field of communications research exhibits an over standardization of mainly empirical research, which is overwhelmingly carried out using quantitative techniques based on simple statistical analysis, in many cases limiting the presented results to an interpretation of the available data. This paper presents an innovative proposal in the field, designed as a new strategy for scientific dissemination and presentation. It puts forward the objective of building three composite indicators that, applied to European public service media, will allow the assessment of the perception of their social value, independence, and management efficiency. Moreover, a study that enables a comparative vision of these three issues in all the countries of the European Union, excluding Malta and Luxemburg, is also proposed. This methodology represents an innovation because it thoroughly explains the process and justifies the validity of the documentary sources used to facilitate their reproduction or questioning. It also reinforces the discussion of the results with the evaluation of the indicators’ robustness before deciding which of them is most appropriate on each occasion for comparing the results using a multicriteria decision analysis technique, the Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (Topis) method, proposed by Hwang and Yoon (1981). The results attest that synthetic indicators are an innovative, original, and validatable methodological tool that can contribute to the progress of research in the field of the communications sciences.

Abstract

The different governance models of the European public service broadcasters reflect the centralized structural political power of the country centralized in each of their States or regions, lacking normative changes to ensure and reinforce their independence, trust and legitimacy. The recent controversies around RTVE and RAI are two examples of how the governance of these organizations reflect the power structures of the society.  None of the three models that characterize the European configuration presents young and communication-related profiles. Most of their board members are still men aged over 50, and even over 65, professionally linked to legal or economic backgrounds. The study is completed with an analysis of the professionalism of governance bodies, an essential requirement to eliminate systems based on partisan quotas.

Abstract