Search

Introduction: On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO, hereafter) reported the first case of a new respiratory infection, in the city of Wuhan.This study focuses on how political communication 2.0 has contributed to prevent and protect citizens, during early stages the COVID-19 crisis, in a comparative perspective between USA and Spain. Specifically, the paper focuses during the first 90 days of 2020 (from January 1 to March 31), in the latency phases - oriented to preparedness and prevention- and of crisis outbreak. Methodology: The paper analyzes the content of the messages through the Twitter accounts of Donald Trump -@realdonaldtrump-, the White House -@ WhiteHouse-, and the CDC - @cdcgov; and Pedro Sánchez -@sanchezcastejon-, the Ministry of Health -@sanidadgob-, and the account of the Moncloa -@desdelamoncloa-. By conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results: the findings show a divergent communication strategy. While the Spanish actors followed closely the guidelines of health crisis communication; in the US, only the official accounts of @WhiteHouse y @cdcgov followed those guidelines, while in President Trump´s account, it is observed a politicized communication strategy rejecting messages from public health sources. Conclusions: Political communication is an essential element in a major crisis not only for good governance and management but also for the preparation and awareness of a citizenry. This study shows that the official institutional communication strategy was appropriate in both countries and that it helped to face an unprecedented major health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This paper analyses the pressures that journalism has exerted or attempted to exert from politics. Methodology: The study uses a combination of qualitative methodologies, such as focus groups discussion, and quantitative ones, such as surveys of journalists; both methodologies allows to know how politics influence journalists and how it can limit media instruments of accountability. Results: this study presents the results of an investigation that shows that journalists and citizens share the perception that political influence is one of the main assumptions that affect the development of good journalism. Discussion/conclusion: Although journalists recognize political and government pressures, the study concludes that they do not give in or feel responsible to political parties or governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This is a research paper that focuses on the Spanish General Elections of 2015 and the subsequent elections, which were held in 2016 as a result of the former ones not producing any agreements leading to the creation of a stable executive. During that period and, in particular, since 2015, politics in Spain overcame a historical two-party domination for the first time in its democracy - on the one hand, the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) - giving way to new political parties aspiring to reach national government, for example, Podemos and Ciudadanos. The main elements of the research deal with studies in agenda setting including an analysis of the Spanish public and media agendas, with a particular emphasis on political coverage. Methodology: A content analysis of the press has been carried out (El Mundo and El País) during the campaign period of the aforementioned elections, revealing the most significant topics on the agenda. Results and Discussion: The data produced by the study indicate that the problems deemed important for the country by Spanish voters have been relegated to a second tier during the electoral campaign. Leaders and different groups prefer to highlight issues linked to politics and governance called "meta-topics" in their speeches, centering on pacts, agreements and self-reference rather than the usual issues of the political agenda such as employment, health and education, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The institutional framework supporting Spanish Communication research has changed radically over the past 30 years, affecting the internal structure of the academic community and the characteristics of scientific production in this field. This paper reconstructs that process by attending to four factors: the increase since the early 1990s in universities offering Communication studies; the establishment of three distinct Communication degree programmes (1991); the deployment and consolidation of a culture of evaluation of research activity (1989-2008); and the recognition of Communication as a specific area in the National RD&I Plan (2010). Such institutional changes have had a significant impact on the structure of the scientific community (exponential growth, incorporation of women, growing internationalisation, etc.) and the general direction of scientific production (publication formats, collaborative research, methodological quality, etc.). The various identified indicators showed a turning point in Spanish Communication research in the mid-2000s, situating it within parameters that differed considerably from those of the previous period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Audience fragmentation, accompanied by other factors, has caused viewing figures to drop across most television networks. In a new context where what is a good audience share needs to be reconsidered, sport content stands out as arguably the last antidote against audience fragmentation. Methodology: This paper examines the role of sport content in Spanish television by compiling the most watched television programs each year from 1989 to 2016. Sport content in television is further discussed through focused interviews with eight professionals from media agencies, networks, media right holders and sponsors. Results and conclusions: The results suggest that networks have systematically capitalized on premium sport content (fundamentally football) to ameliorate the effects of audience fragmentation, and that, given the uncertainty concerning television business models, will continue to do so in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article aims at describing and analyzing non profitable media background and future expectations as well as regulations when facing digitalization in Spain. The research is carried out from an inductive perspective which implies using the documentary analysis, consultations to several sources and, eventually, interviews. Additionally, this paper aims at contributing to reflect on media social role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose in this paper an approach to the history of Communication Research in Spain, taking into account the scientific production and the structure and historical context in which the scientific community interested in this field have performed their work. For this task we have established a temporary frame beginning from the moment communication became an autonomous field of research and education in Spain, during the mid-sixties, until present time. This period has been divided into three stages, typically defined as emergence, consolidation and development (or maturing) of communication studies in Spain. In each of these stages, the scientific community interested in communication research have worked in different social, academic and epistemic or scientific contexts. These particular conditions contribute to understanding the different orientations which have inspired historical communication research in Spain (research objects, theoretical and methodological approaches, contributions and limitations). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the most relevant conclusions of the research: "The informative image in online media: newspaper, radio and television". Firstly, the author presents the theory and methodology employed and them she describes how they are applied to a sample collected in 2004. This consisted of 311 images from online editions of newspaper La Vanguardia, El País and El Mundo; the radio stations Cadena Ser, Onda Cero, COPE, as well as broadcasters Antena 3 and Telecinco. Finally it explores how the object of study has changed and developed until 2008 and its possible lines of research. One of the main conclusions is that the modular design of the pages undermines the visual message. The presentation is homogeneous and the edition of the images is sharp to adjust them to fixed sizes. Authors have become anonymous, whereas news agencies have become the main suppliers of images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to public opinion the increasing number of foreign population has became one of the most problematic issues in the last decade. Since 2005 immigration is the second biggest concern for Spaniards after unemployment and followed by terrorism. It is has became a state issue and a central government worry of utmost importance. The media coverage given to immigration is very important, specifically the way in which it is approached and presented to the readers. This paper shows the different perspectives or frames used by two key nationwide Spanish newspapers, El País y El Mundo, to cover one of the migration crises that took place in the Canary Islands in spring 2006. Following Framing theory, media content has been analyzed using variables to show the different ways in which these media depict the phenomenon of migration and the approach which each newspaper follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]