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The introduction and development of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in the Community of Madrid respond to the need of adjusting broadcasting to the new technological requirements, and to the firm, very ambitious and carefully designed political objective of making the Community of Madrid the leader in the implementation of DTT in Spain. This article aims to show the more relevant policies carried out by the government of this Community during 2008 and 2009 for the digital switchover. This article acknowledges that the Community of Madrid's technological adjustment policy is framed within a wider national policy called PlanAvanza (2009-2012), which greatly supports, in its Infrastructures section, the nationwide implementation of DTT, and issubsequently determined by the National Technical Plan for DTT(PTNTDT). Based on the collected data, this article studies the level of DTT household penetration in the Community of Madrid during 2008-2009, the informative effectiveness of the campaigns designed to promote awareness about this technological change and ensure the necessary social support, and the effectiveness of the policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents blogs as an innovative and rich tool for political communication. Blogs can facilitate two-way communication and true interaction between citizens and politicians. The article analyses in depth the content, uses, and characteristics of five weblogs written by Aragonese politicians. Although the study detects some weaknesses in the current political use of blogs, it encourages political parties to use blogs and other online resources, not only during electoral campaigns to improve the reputation of political leaders but also continuously and particularly in situations of special interest for the citizenship. The study shows that the use of blogs by Aragonese politicians is no longer just a transitory phenomenon and has become a reality. The article also demonstrates that politicians use blogs mostly as a pre-electoral tooland to a much lesser extent as an element of communication to promote democracy. It has been observed that politicians' blogs are used as a tool to overcome situations of crisis and to compensate negative opinions caused by questionable acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]