MONOGRAPH: MEDIA INDICATORS, CITIZENSHIP AND GOVERNANCE. OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND GREENING THE MEDIA SYSTEM

2023-10-02

Title of the monograph:

Media indicators, citizenship and governance. Opportunities for public policy and greening the media system

Thematic editors:

Silvia Olmedo Salar
silviaolmedo@uma.es
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7193-3009

Carmen del Rocío Monedero Morales
roi@uma.es
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3222-029X

Manuel Chaparro Escudero
mch@uma.es
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5630-4009
Universidad de Málaga (España)

About this monograph:

Media indicators are measures or metrics used to evaluate and analyse the media from different perspectives and are essential to understand the impact and engagement of the media with society, culture and public opinion. The growing interest in measuring from democratic perspectives and concern for the Common Good, has come hand in hand with the recommendations of UNESCO and its "Media Development Indicators" (2008), "Quality Indicators of Public Broadcasters:" (2012) or "Methodological Manual UNESCO Indicators of Culture for Development" (2014). Measuring the ethical aspects of media activity, the concentration of ownership, the plurality of the system and the effectiveness of public policies has also been a concern in the EU, and in 2008 the European Commission and the European Parliament promoted the creation of the "Media Pluralism Monitor".

The interest in the proper functioning of the media system, especially the audiovisual system, has transcended the economic matrix and the quantitative results of audiences to focus on the transparency of business management, the suitability and quality of content, truthful information as opposed to disinformation strategies, citizen participation and regulatory compliance among the most important aspects.

In recent years, this interest in identifying good practices and formulas for socialising values and strengthening democratic quality in the media has mobilised researchers, public institutions and national and international organisations, as well as information professionals themselves, to create tools and guides aimed at this end. The challenges facing the design and application of indicators affect all sectors of the media system: public, private commercial and private non-profit media, without losing sight of the new scenarios opened up by digital platforms and virtual social networks.

Media indicators play a fundamental role in the evaluation and analysis of the media sector and in accountability to citizens, helping to detect failures and strengths. The objective of media indicators is to facilitate the improvement of the media system to be useful for citizenship building, thus they are necessary tools to promote greater democratisation, more inclusive, diverse and critical societies.

Bibliographic references

Banerjee, I., & Seneviratne, K. (Ed.) (2006), Radiotelevisión de Servicio Público: Un Manual de Mejores Prácticas. UNESCO.

Blasco-Blasco, O., Rodríguez-Castro, M., & Túñez-López, M. (2020). Composite indicators as an innovative methodology for Communication Sciences: implementation for the assessment of European public service media. Profesional De La información, 29(4). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.jul.37

Buckley, S. (Ed.) (2011). Community Media: a good practice handbook. UNESCO.

Bucci, E., Chiaretti, M. & Fiorini, A.M. (2013). Indicadores de calidad de las emisoras públicas-Evaluación contemporánea, Debates CI. UNESCO.

Chaparro, M., Espinar, L. & Gabilondo, V. (2019). Transparencia mediática, oligopolios y democracia ¿Quién nos cuenta el cuento? indicadores de rentabilidad social y políticas en radio y televisión: América Latina y Europa Mediterránea. Comunicación Social.

Chaparro, M., Olmedo, S. & Gabilondo, V. (2016). El Indicador de la Rentabilidad Social en Comunicación (IRSCOM): medir para transformar. CIC Cuadernos de Información y Comunicación, 21, 47-62.

Charras, D. (Dir.). (2015). Implementación del sistema de indicadores de emisoras públicas para la evaluación de la Televisión Pública Argentina. UBA/PNUD.

López López, P., Puentes Rivera, P. & Rúas-Araújo, J. (2017). Transparencia en televisiones públicas: desarrollo de indicadores y análisis de los casos de España y Chile. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 72, 253-272.

Pérez-Tornero, J.M., Giraldo-Luque, S., Tejedor-Calvo, S. & Portalés-Oliva, M. (2018). Propuesta de indicadores para evaluar las competencias de alfabetización mediática en las administraciones públicas. Profesional de la Información, 27(3), 521–536. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2018.may.06

Sáez, Ch., Avilés, J., Riffo, F. & García, J- (2023). Pluralismo TV. Social-Ediciones.

UNESCO (2008). Indicadores de Desarrollo Mediático: Marco para evaluar el desarrollo de los medios de comunicación social. Unesco https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000163102_spa

Subtopics

This issue of Textual and Visual Media calls for original articles on topics linked or aligned to the following sub-themes:

  • Coverage of social and environmental issues: indicators that measure the quality and quantity of media coverage of relevant social and environmental issues, such as climate change and eco-social transitions, gender equality, ecofeminism, social justice, migration and development issues. As well as the incorporation of narratives committed to eco-transition.

  • Diversity and representation: indicators that measure diversity in the representation of voices and perspectives in their content. This includes the inclusion of marginalised or underrepresented groups, both in programming and in the newsrooms themselves.

  • Cultural and ethical sensitivity: media indicators focused on the representation of cultural groups, ethnic minorities, indigenous and Afro-descendant populations, minority groups and disability inclusiveness.

  • Transparency and accountability: indicators that assess the transparency and accountability of the media in its editorial decision-making, business practices and overall operations. Including acknowledgement of news sources, conflicts of interest, social responsibility policies, natural resource and waste management, energy conservation, use of sustainable materials and professional ethics.

  • Promotion of social and environmental causes: indicators that focus on the active promotion of social and environmental causes through campaigns, special programmes and collaboration with non-governmental organisations, international bodies and other actors working on social and environmental issues.

  • Citizenship and governance: indicators that measure and evaluate citizen participation in the operation, dynamisation and creation of content, as well as proposals aimed at evaluating the social impact of citizen proposals.

  • Digitalisation, platforms and artificial intelligence: indicators oriented to x-ray and measure digital native media, as well as media proposals in virtual platforms and social networks that contribute to democratisation and digital sovereignty. Proposals aimed at measuring and evaluating the application of artificial intelligence in the field of journalism and communication will also be taken into account.

CV thematic editors

Silvia Olmedo Salar, Lecturer in the Department of Journalism at the University of Malaga and member of the Communication and Culture Laboratory Comandalucía (TIC-015). Her main lines of research focus on media indicators of social profitability; radio, podcasts and sound innovations and communication in the field of international cooperation. Author of more than 60 publications in national and international journals and books. As a journalist, she has developed most of her professional work in the EFE Agency and in radio, with collaborations also in press and television.

Carmen del Rocío Monedero Morales is a journalist, full professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Malaga and Vice-Dean of Infrastructures, Business and Environmental Sustainability in the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the UMA. She is a member of several research teams focused on communication deontology, educational innovation and media indicators in audiovisual media. He has participated in national and international projects, conferences and publications related to the lines of research described above, as well as to cultural communication.

Manuel Chaparro Escudero, Professor of Journalism at the University of Malaga. IP of the Communication and Culture Laboratory. Author of numerous books and articles. His most recent monographs include: "Claves para repensar los medios y el mundo que habitamos. “La distopía del desarrollo” (2015), “Comunicación Radical. Despatriarcalizar, decolonizar y ecologizar la cultura mediática” (2022) with Susana de Andrés. She researches on communication and post-development, decolonial narratives and public policy.

Article submission deadline: March 25, 2024

Publication date: June 2024