After a year and a half of research, Professor Chiara Sáez of the Faculty of Communication and Image, along with researchers and journalists Fernando Fuente-Alba and Jorge Avilés, present the book “Media Pluralism and Proximity TV” (UCSC Ediciones) this Thursday. The work provides information that, according to Sáez, was not available about the perception of pluralism in this sector of the television industry.
Based on their previous publication ““TV Pluralism, Measurement and Analysis of Pluralism in Chilean Television” (Social Ediciones, 2023), co-authored with Jorge Avilés, Felipe Riffo and Javier García, Sáez and Avilés decided to apply the same study approach to analyze local, regional and community channels. Upon realizing there was little information about pluralism in these types of media, they opted to start one step prior and research workers’ perceptions of this conceptto also assess the economic dimension of these media.
That is how the research that led to this new book arose. And they invited Fernando Fuente-Alba, current director of the School of Journalism of Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción and one of the national academics with the most knowledge and research in the local communication sector, to participate.
The research, funded by the Audiovisual Development Fund of the Ministry of Culture, revealed a low level of reflection regarding media plurality, in addition to the precariousness and neglect in which local and regional media develop due to lack of resources. Based on these findings , Jorge Avilés and Professor Chiara Sáez will publish a new book specifically focused on community channels in November of this year.
“Media Pluralism and Proximity TV” will be launched this Thursday, September 12th at noon at the Faculty of Communication, History and Social Sciences of Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción.
In the book, you presented some conclusions and practical responses so that the State can include them and improve TV pluralism. Why isn’t the State adopting these very concrete measures if the answers are available?
I think a part of it relates to the regulator in particular, who has a serious problem of nearsightedness regarding the territory. They don’t value communication at a local and regional level. There is a lack of vision, but it has to do with the institutionalism’s own conditions. For example, the National Television Council (CNTV) doesn’t have regional offices. Although there was an attempt to have offices in other regions, it didn’t take off because there are no resources. Ultimately, what we identified in our study is that local and regional channels are left to fend for themselves. And they all survive the best way they can.
There is a centralist view of television and in addressing these issues. What matters is nationwide channels, and this whole other sector that can be very important for the relationship of the communities with television is overlooked. The other channels are quite irrelevant within the concerns of the CNTV, which has very little knowledge of the sector. In fact, they have never conducted a study like the one we did. This speaks poorly of how the regulator understands its role.
And what should be the role of the CNTV?
I think it should be more sensitive to the development of television at a territorial level beyond Santiago. That is the main issue we have. For example, we point out the importance of journalism at a local level, but there are areas of the country that don’t have any media of their own; radio, press or television. But this also surpasses the CNTV, as it is a deeper problem. It’s what several American authors call “information deserts”, where television is one aspect in which there are no state agencies addressing these issues. Here, we have the Media Fund granted by the Ministry General Secretariat of Government, but this fund is a mere salutation to information pluralism in the regions because it is very little money. We need a much more strategic perspective on these issues. Although there is a lot of talk about the issue of concentration and monopoly, all of it is always with Santiago in mind. The promotion of other media is unseen. There are many other options that can be created and that are not only up to the National Television Council. The CNTV today, as it is, is insufficient to respond to all of these emerging issues.
Which neighboring countries have you observed that have managed to promote plurality, considering they are also experiencing a similar situation in terms of shortage of resources?
I think there are countries with a greater development of regional media, and this has to do with the fact that regional diversity is much more present in the discourse around national identity. The case of Colombia and Brazil is interesting. But the important thing is the presence of regional public media. There are often regional public channels, and that means there is public money involved in the development of specific contents for the regions. So then you wonder: what happens with national television and regional contents? What is the role assigned by national television to regional contents? I mean, it is simply 15 minutes of the newscast when maybe, for instance, there should be a transporter of regional contents. If we were more imaginative, or if the authorities were more imaginative, alternatives could be found. There is an issue of political imagination and not giving this problem the importance it has in terms of information and identity. The lack of vision regarding this problem astonishes me.
The book emphasizes that the concept of pluralism must always be problematized and kept in mind, but how can this be put into practice on a daily basis?
It is important to do it because in many channels, the first thing to be done was to reduce pluralism to political pluralism, only seeing it in binary form. For example, in one channel, only left-wing and right-wing people are interviewed. This shows there is very little political representation, as there are lots of parties that do not appear in the news. Thus, a first conclusion is that pluralism is not only limited to that. On the other hand, local and regional channels must understand who the relevant actors in their environment are, which are not only official actors or institutional agents, such as companies or representatives of the local regional government. There is an issue with the official guideline, from which we need to stray. Other types of agents could be interviewed, for example, from culture, social organizations, the environmental sector, the academia, etc. There are greater possibilities for diversification.
However, I must say that it is understandable because in a precarious context, the most usual actors are those who are within reach and willing to participate. In our interviews, we realized it is difficult, they told us that some people did not participate due to the level of exposure. All of this feeds the non-diverse logic for understanding plurality. There needs to be more questioning. The channels need to ask themselves whether they are addressing things, conflicts, etc. the right way.
To conclude, if the economic conditions are not there, which is an important foundation to be able to diversify the media, what can be done in the meantime to deal with the lack of pluralism?
I think that, maybe, there could be better coordination among the channels. There is a network that groups regional local channels called the Regional Association of Free-to-Air Television Channels of Chile (ARCATEL), as well as the Association of Community Channels. However, although many channels are part of these associations, there are local and regional channels that are not part of ARCATEL. Therefore, I think another association should be formed to connect with other projects and voice their demands in the corresponding institutional spaces. There is room for progress here. I also think the civil society could prepare more to connect with these media, so the channels can realize that the actors in their environment are not only institutional actors. I consider we could work on this while the big changes are yet to come.
Original publication at FCEI web.
Text by María José Halabi
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