A Fractured and Weaker Public Service Media: Territorial Organisation, Public Media Policy and Economic Crisis in Spain

Abstract

The economic crisis that began in 2008 has brought to the table the unstructured nature of the Spanish public broadcasting system. In Spain, the Public Service Media is organised into three almost watertight territorial levels that do not collaborate with each other, and even sometimes compete for the same resources. In addition, the different political elites (local, regional and national) see their media as their own, and those of the other administrations as opponents. This division, which we call a geographic-administrative fracture, has prevented a global management of the system, which has led to more consequences other than merely economic ones. This article provides a novel vision of the (permanent) crisis of the Spanish public media, highlighting a defining characteristic of the system, hardly ever considered as a key factor in its (bad) functioning: territorial division.

KEYWORDS:

• decentralisation
• radio
• television
• public service media
• media policy
• Spain

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In 2019, Third Sector media (called in this way to be clearly differentiated from public and commercial sectors) have still not been fully legalised, although state laws have recognised their right to exist since 201

2 UCD: Unión de Centro Democrático (Union of Democratic Centre). PSOE: Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party).

3 One of the central components of the Franco dictatorship was the national homogenisation of Spain. The use of languages other than Castilian was prohibited, and non-Castilian cultural expressions were considered just folkloric. Catalonia and the Basque Country suffered particularly under this repression because of their strong sense of identity (what is called, depending on the ideological and theoretical perspective, regions, historical nationalities or stateless nations). With the restoration of democracy, political decentralisation was the central demand of the Basque and Catalan nationalist parties, which had considerable electoral support. Both radio and, especially, television were fundamental instruments for recovering from the effects of the repression.

4 The Basque Country launched its television in 1982, when Law 46/1983 had not yet even been debated in the Congress. Catalonia did the same in 1983, just before the law came into force.

5 The previous year, the Basque Country had done the same with its second television channel.

6 Source: https://comunicacio21.cat/noticies/la-ccma-s-enfronta-a-un-impacte-economic-de-147-milions-per-les-reclamacions-d-hisenda/

7 Source: https://www.eleconomista.es/empresas-finanzas/noticias/9246110/07/18/Hacienda-afronta-la-devolucion-de-550-millones-de-IVA-a-las-TV-autonomicas-.html

8 Source: https://www.vozpopuli.com/medios/Montoro-TV-autonomicas-millones-IVA_0_1087392713.html

9 PP: Partido Popular / People’s Party.

10 Source: https://www.periodistadigital.com/politica/partidos-politicos/20111102/rajoy-compromete-limitar-ley-despilfarro-televisiones-publicas-noticia-689401523866/

11 Source: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1968802/0/televisiones-autonomicas/balance-situacion/deuda-plantilla-presupuestos/

12 Sources: https://www.vozpopuli.com/medios/coste-cuestionadas-televisiones-autonomicas-millones_0_1189082239.html

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Josep Àngel Guimerà Orts

Josep Àngel Guimerà Orts, PhD in Information Sciences (UAB), teaches on ICTs and research methodology in the Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.

Montse Bonet

Montse Bonet teaches in the Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual i Publicitat, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.