ECREA16-Abstract

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Saturday, November 12

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A Controversial Case Between Quality and Tabloid Journalism: Diario 16 During and After the Spanish Transition to Democracy

C. Barrera

, R. Ramos

University of Navarra, Public Communication, Pamplona, Spain

University of Piura, Facultad de Comunicación, Piura, Peru

One of the most remarkable daily newspapers founded the year after General Franco’s death in Spain was Diario 16. It was launched in October 1976, only

five months after the creation of the renowned newspaper El País. Despite being both quite similar in terms of ideology and politics (center-left oriented),

El País rapidly became successful and profitable while Diario 16 lasted almost ten years before reaching a respectable position and making profits. Never‑

theless, both turned into symbols of the newborn Spanish democracy. In a few years, El País reached prestige, reputation and influence in the public opinion

by imitating other European quality newspapers of the time. Conversely, the promoters of Diario 16 had to suddenly change their initial idea and make

a more popular, less elite-oriented newspaper that could not compete with El País. The appointment of a new young editor, Pedro J. Ramírez, in June 1980

was the key to revitalizing the newspaper in such a way that its circulation rose from 60,000 to 120,000 issues in hardly two years. The ingredients used

by Ramírez were partially taken from the old newspaper but he encouraged the establishment of new guidelines such as a more vivid style, front pages

bordering on the edge of sensationalism, large photos and provocative headlines, etc. At the same time, he also tried to position Diario 16 among the quality

press through editorials and articles signed by prominent writers. Another significant point was the use of investigative journalism, especially in corruption

affairs involving the Socialists in power since 1982. The rivalry became especially intense due to the newspaper’s findings on counter-terrorism actions in

France, allegedly planned and paid by the government as a dissuasive weapon against Basque terrorist group ETA. In this paper we will analyze the reasons

behind this behavior of Diario 16, the controversies raised about its journalistic practices from an ethical viewpoint, and the arguments that both parties

(government and newspaper) contended to justify themselves and attack the opponent. We will describe the political and media context to understand

the discussions and also the abrupt, shocking end of the story with Ramírez being fired by the company’s owner and publisher. The issue of quality became

crucial as an argument used to dismiss him. To what extent can we consider Diario 16 a sensationalist newspaper? Was Ramírez’s dismissal of journalistic

or rather political nature? To answer these questions and deal with adjacent issues, we examined all newspaper issues between October 1980 and March

1989, with special emphasis in its news policy, front-pages, main topics dealt with, and the institutional positions through the leading articles along with

those written each Sunday by the editor. We also interviewed Ramírez and his main trustworthy journalists, apart from many references found in books

and periodicals. We will conclude trying to offer an answer to explain the complex nature of what we can call a hybrid newspaper that combined elements

from tabloids and others taken from quality press.

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The Memory of a Dictator in Portuguese Newspaper

M. Mata

Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, Journalism, Lisboa, Portugal

This paper proposal is part of a larger study on how the Portuguese journalism shaped - during the first decade of this century – the memory of Antonio

Oliveira Salazar, prime minister of ‘Estado Novo’, the dictatorship that preceded the democratic revolution of April 25, 1974. Salazar is the most important

figure of the Portuguese political history in the recent past and his image and regime doctrine left a legacy that by the end of the last century seemed

silenced. In the first decade of the new century, Salazar seemed to “return”: in addition of many books, some films and TV series, portuguese journalism

were producing several works that recalled or reveal different aspects of his life and his regime, in a memory labour that figured us important to understand.

In this context, it was made a survey of the articles published in four portuguese newspapers (two daily and two weekly) and of the news exhibited by

the three main portuguese television channels, between 2000 to 2010. These were analyzed according to previously established variables, with a particular

focus on visual images, as we consider its particular potentialities in the (re)construction of memory of people and past events. Here, we present the results

of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the articles and photos published in the press. These allow us to verify trends, patterns and memory produc‑

tion strategies and to conclude that the dictator's collective memory is strongly rooted in the present and journalism tends to crystallize his simbolic value,

which circulates as an empty significant (Barthes) available for the appropriations required by journalism .

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Writing About Food as a Mean of Communication

K. Zábrodská

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences- Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Prague, Czech Republic

Food, eating habits or hunger create the everyday culture and national cuisine. What did our ancestors eat form in certain manner what are we eating now

and what we present our children or tourists as our national cuisine, part of our national heritage. Ten years ago started in Czech Republic a movement for

revitalization of so called First Czechoslovak Republic (in period 1918–1938) as the golden era. The chefs, food journalists and gourmets started to praise

the former gastronomy, the then used products and techniques and its high European level. There were few cookbooks published at that time, in which you

can find some unique dishes, but these dishes were certainly not eaten by normal people at daily basis. The former menus and common meals in the city or

village in 20s and 30s could be found in the daily press. The newspapers from that period brought news and articles about food, lack of supplies, usury, crop,

pricing and of course tips for weekly menus for the whole family.To prove, if our nowadays ideas about the gastronomy in 1918–1938 correspond with then

situation, I have made the content analysis of the four most influential Czech daily press. I have chosen the weekend issues, as they had more pages and

more supplements, in six years which were significant for the development of the new country – 1918 (founding and euphoria from the independence),