La television sensacionalista en los canales públicos y privados de España e Italiaestereotipos, discurso televisivo y los hábitos de la audiencia

Abstract

Introduction Television is regarded as an instrument of consciousness and modeler socializing, above all, instigator of the creation of public opinion in sensationalist programs. In this way, this study based on the society of the spectacle has as purpose to analyze the negative effects that can be developed through consumption of stereotypes, the television discourse and the audience practices in the viewing of such programs. On the basis of the criteria and bases of selected study, we intend to establish a comparison at European level between Spain and Italy, using a suitable instrumentation for the profiles of individual programs as well as to their audiences. In this way, programs «Corazón» by «TVE1» public ownership, «Sálvame» by «Telecinco» private and «La vita in diretta» by «RAI l»public ownership and «Pomeriggio Cinque» by «Canale 5» private have been selected. The goal of this study is to obtain concrete results that validate the media impact of this type of sensationalist programs. From this objective a set of educational proposals will be offered. Objectives The overall objective of this thesis is to analyze the programming of public and private chains from the European Union countries (Spain and Italy) to highlight the keys of the television discourse, the ideological stereotypes and the habits of the audience on sensationalist TV. In addition,5 specific objectives will be addressed: to analyze the habits and types of audience of television programs for individual profiles; to browse contents and habits in the sensational programs of both public and private channels from Spain and Italy from the perspective of the audience; to analyze the television speeches in television sensationalist programs from Spain and Italy; to discover different stereotypes in the sensationalist programs based on the analysis of content and the perceived by the audience; and to observe strategies of critical perception in the audience for the receipt of sensationalist messages. Method This research is composed by two studies. In the first place, a qualitative analysis of the audiovisual show selected in both countries of the European Union (Spain and Italy) was performed. To do this, the transcription of 16 emissions (4 per program) was carried out with the help of the technique known as the week built of Stempel. In this way, this first study has addressed through a content analysis supported non-participant observation, as well as a socio-demographic analysis of the content and its protagonists. In addition, to know the values within the schedules the scale of Schwarzt has been taken into account. On the other hand, in the second study, a questionnaire to measure the habits of the audience before the consumption of this type of programs has been validated. Therefore, once validated and accepted by professional experts in the field of educommunication has proceeded to evaluate the Spanish and Italian society. The questionnaire is formed in two blocks: on the one hand, the first 15 items are related to a socio-demographic population study, and on the other hand, the remaining 30 items using Likert scale (where 1 is totally disagree and 5 fully agree) evaluated the practices of consumption of both European societies. To analyze the results the statistical program SPSS has been used, establishing beforehand the dimensions and study variables. Results With regard to the study 1, the viewing of the sample selected «Corazón» and «Sálvame» (Spain) and «La vita in diretta» and «Pomeriggio Cinque» (Italy) generating in the spectator of ideas based on the social status that is presented, as well as representations of the quality of information in the various television channels. The profile of these programs are characterised by the use of the reports and chronicles, the interviews as the genres most demanded in the public ownership chains. While in private chains tend to use more frequently the criticisms and comments before this same profile. In addition, are identified as being of national production in maximum entirety and developed in artificial scenarios except for reports that are made in natural settings. With regard to the thematic more frequented in its contents, this is linked to issues related with love, family, news of outreach and «reality shows» belonging tñe latter topic only to private broadcasters. On the other hand, the protagonists of audiovisual content figures are identified by information professionals and popular characters. Journalists who develop the contents are identified as being mostly women because of the emotional charge of their information, as well as specific program presenter or collaborator. Regarding popular personalities, in Spain, the female sector, middle class, national origin and aged between 20 and 40 years prevails. The only palpable difference in the four programs is observed in the occupation of popular personalities, while the public chain choose meritocrats, the private chain prefers famous for relationship. Meanwhile, the consumer profile in Italy is that of a man, upper-middle, class of national origin, meritocrat and aged between 20 and 60 years. Lastly, in relation to language, this is determined by the use of journalistic language colloquialism supported by information professionals and the use of colloquial and discursive language by characters from the world of entertainment. In addition, the system of signs and nonverbal communication are immersed in total retransmissions, establishing a link between the receiver and sender of the message. In study 2, analysis of the results collected through the survey shows that Spanish profile is characterized by consuming television throughout the time slot of the private channel, «Telecinco» (43%) chosen mostly against of public ownership chain «TVE 1» (42%). Also, they opt for the viewing of «Sálvame» program with 27% (private), «Corazón» with 12% (public) and 61% refuse to consume both programs. On the other hand, sensationalist programs are more consumed in rural areas (2.81) than in urban areas (2.71) according to the average obtained. As for the individual profile of the viewer, this is identified to a person from an average of 65 years old, female, with no statistically significant differences in occupation and perform low-level studies. Moreover, the Italian profile is defined by the viewing of television time slot afternoon. In addition, they opt for public ownership chain «RAI 1» (56%) versus private «Canale 5» (39%). Regarding the choice of sensationalist programs consume 28% «Pomeriggiocinque» (private), compared with 21% of «La vita in diretta» (public) and 51% indicating no frequenting none. On the other hand, the urban environment rises in average (2.86) compared to rural areas (2.76) when consuming chronic programs gossip TV. Lastly, the particular profile of the Italian television viewer is a woman with an average of 65 years dedicated to home care and low-level studies. Conclusions In relation to the study 1 it is concluded that the constant battle to which the chains of public and private ownership are subjected, cause that viewers are exposed to waterlogging and infoxication of the messages that are transmitted on a daily basis in their programming. Without doubt, the contents based on entertainment and themes of variety are those which give rise to a greater interest in audience, despite the lack of respect and constant vulgar words rooted. In this regard, negative values and masking of reality are burning in their contents and respondents tend to bind the sensationalism only with programs known as «trash TV». On the other hand, in relation to the stereotypes rooted in this type of program, the female figure occupies the second place in the current society, identified as the weaker sex, prevail sexism in the television content. In addition, minorities, ethnic groups or marginal groups do not count with respect to the image of their collective, causing discrimination and inequality among spectators. In this sense, it is necessary to educate viewers to prevent these differences remain in society. For its part, in study 2 it is concluded that the Spanish population is characterized by viewing more frequently those programs related with the chronic gossip TV or the sensationalism compared to Italian population. The prevailing ascent by these contents has caused that statistically significant differences exist in the socio¬demographic sample selected. Spain has an impact on the consumption of the private chain, while Italy prefer the chain of public ownership, betting on the public service that offers in favor of citizenship. However, in relation to the consumption of the programs selected for the analysis in this thesis, it has been demonstrated that despite viewers of both nationalities know the subject and the content of the gossip TV, the results indicate a limited viewing on them. This conclusion is based on the feeling of shame related by the consumption of rubbish or inappropriate contents. In conclusion, we must stress the need to educate and train citizens in media competence so that they can become prosumers empowered. The lack of quality information in the programs of sensational character takes a major role in the studies of the academic community, justifying the lack of codes of conduct to support and develop a correct quality television. Also, stereotypes, beliefs and biases through these programmes must be eradicated, avoiding the formation of attitudes, especially in the more vulnerable audience.