Abstract

The economic contribution of public funds to the mass media takes place in two directions: direct subsidies and institutional advertising campaigns. The purpose of this article is to review the indicators that the Spanish autonomous governments take into account when granting public aid and buying advertising space in the media. When this support is often claimed by the profession, it is worth asking if values such as quality of information and social responsibility are considered. To verify this, we analyze the laws about aid for media promoted by the autonomous governments in the last ten years (2007-2017), as well as the current regional legislation on institutional advertising. Based on this review and on the scientific bibliography, we propose guidelines to improve the meaning of these financing channels.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.