Abstract

This article analyzes the changes that have taken place in the political communication from the birth of television. A historical review of the functions that have been having the television until becomes the first source of political information for the citizens it is shown in this article. The research analyzes the effects that the new political communication has in the presentation of the political information as well as in the audience. One of the most important conclusion is the affirmation that at the same time that the television popularizes the policy, it allows a fast and easy access to this type of information. The citizens are apathetic and disinterested in it.

Abstract

This study compares the frames presented by four printed and online newspapers (El país, El mundo, Elconfidencial.com, and Eldiario.es) in their headlines with those adopted by the four largest political parties (PP, PSOE, Podemos and Ciudadanos) in the news releases published on their websites during the 2015 Spanish electoral campaign. Findings show that strategy and game frames clearly dominated not only news media discourse, but also the pieces published by the political parties, whereas prognostic and issue frames were more infrequent. This reveals the contagion of the media logic to the parties’ informative action and evidences their co-responsibility in the political disaffection. Meanwhile, the importance of game and strategy frames feeds media commercial dynamics and allows media to intervene in the political sphere practicing a speculative journalism.

Abstract

Mobile devices (phones and tablets) have become the main means of access to the internet in Spain. This has caused a change in the way the public is informed and interacts with information content. This research examines how this change impacts internet users’ habits in relation to the consumption of political information. The aims of this study are to determine how users consume political news on mobile devices and to better understand their information behavior.

Abstract

YouTube is a social network where videos of all topics are created and consumed. In this article we propose a classification of the most watched political information content on YouTube Spain. We will analyze the power and characteristics of these contents in a sample of 1,443 videos that were trending topic for 143 days. We will use a methodology based on content analysis to observe the frequency, user interaction, creative activity of authors, presence of infotainment features and journalistic quality on political videos. The results showed a lower frequency of visualization, interaction and prosumer activity in the videos of political information. We also found that most of the videos lack of plurality and no sources were consulted in them. This scene is a challenge for journalists, whose mission of verification and sort out of information acquires, in this context, a great importance.

Abstract

Based on a sample of articles published by The New York Times in 2017 covering three important political issues, this research quantifies the number of tweets that end being used as journalistic sources. With the president of the United States, Donald Trump, as the main protagonist, the results point to the fact that Twitter statements are consolidated as a content used on a recurring basis also in the most reliable media. In this way, the study contributes to deepen into the changes that the social network has introduced in the use of journalistic sources in the field of hard news.

Abstract

The key points of the transformations that social media have generated in the field of political information are identified. Social media consolidation is bringing with it a new, more hybrid communicative environment and a logic based on new principles and operating criteria that affect the entire informative process. Therefore, the impact of digital platforms on the production, distribution, and consumption of political information is examined from a critical literature review. To conclude, an approach to pending future challenges for research in this highly dynamic field is offered.

Abstract

The key points of the transformations that social media have generated in the field of political information are identified. Social media consolidation is bringing with it a new, more hybrid communicative environment and a logic based on new principles and operating criteria that affect the entire informative process. Therefore, the impact of digital platforms on the production, distribution, and consumption of political information is examined from a critical literature review. To conclude, an approach to pending future challenges for research in this highly dynamic field is offered.

Abstract

The possibilities offered by information and communication technologies have allowed many people to become political content creators. Often, the produced content is not based on information created by professionals. The objective of this work is to analyse the relationship between the monitoring of political information in professional media and the production of political content in non-professional media. The study performs a secondary analysis of the data obtained by applying the statistical method to surveys published by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (CIS, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas) between 2011 and 2016. The results show that there is a strong relationship between the participation in blogs and forums of political debate and the use of the Internet to stay informed about politics. It has also been observed that there is an association between the creation of political content and the monitoring of political programs through the press, radio and television.

Abstract

The political agenda in an electoral context has multiple supports on which to be built: besides traditional media, social networks have adopted a leading role in the strategies of the parties. The current research analyzes for 28 days the official Twitter accounts of the two main presidential candidates in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras and Chile, during the elections held in Latin America in the 2015-2017 period. The thematic agendas of the candidates and the countries are exposed through the use of a quantitative methodology, content analysis and the use of tools such as Python Twint, NVivo and SPSS, whilst Spearman’s Rho coefficient was applied for the extraction of correlations. In conclusion, the absence of a particular digital agenda in Latin America has been inferred, within a coherent thematic behavior through the left-right axis and the national politics.

Abstract

The possibilities offered by information and communication technologies have allowed many people to become political content creators. Often, the produced content is not based on information created by professionals. The objective of this work is to analyse the relationship between the monitoring of political information in professional media and the production of political content in non-professional media. The study performs a secondary analysis of the data obtained by applying the statistical method to surveys published by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (CIS, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas) between 2011 and 2016. The results show that there is a strong relationship between the participation in blogs and forums of political debate and the use of the Internet to stay informed about politics. It has also been observed that there is an association between the creation of political content and the monitoring of political programs through the press, radio and television.