52 | nº 31, pp. 41-61 | doxa.comunicación
July-December of 2020
The decline in reputation of communication professionals following the crisis of Valencia’s media system
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
A considerable amount of attention has been paid to the political debate in the background of RTVV’s closure: around 50% of the respondents consider it relevant or very relevant in the 2015 and 2017 surveys.
News coverage by the press of the closure has ignored the problems of RTVV workers. About 50% of the respondents in 2015 and 2017 considered this approach to have had little or no importance.
Approximately 70% of those surveyed in 2015 and 2017 said the news coverage of the RTVV closure ignored its impact on Valencia’s culture industries and the issue of defending the Valencian language and culture.
Finally, there was also broad agreement in relation to the negative assessment of the news coverage of the RTVV closu-re. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in 2015 and 2017 considered the approach to have been sensational.
Next, the questionnaire included the assessment of the quality of the news coverage of the RTVV closure in the most influential newspapers in the Valencian Region. In general, respondents felt that the coverage of the RTVV closure was more complete in the digital media (53% in 2015 and 56% in 2017) compared to print media (15% in both 2015 and 2017), even though a third of the interviewees felt that the coverage was similar (32%, in 2015 and 35%, in 2017). In both the 2015 and 2017 surveys, a question was asked about the reasons for the lack of news, opinion articles, and editorials regarding the RTVV closure in the Spanish and Valencian press, with 4 possible answers, of which two could be selected:
The figure of 51% (55% in 2017) of the respondents believed the reason for this is “that the issue is very politicised, which is uncomfortable for many journalists”.
The figure of 47% (51% in 2017) marked the option, “For economic interests, as the disappearance of RTVV means one less competitor on the media scene”.
The percentage of 43% (46% in 2017) of the respondents selected the option, “Because a large part of the journalistic profession is not aware of the importance of the continued existence of local public radio and television stations”.
The figure of 13% (15% in 2017) selected the option, “Because the issue of RTVV’s closure is not of interest to a majority of the citizens”.
Questions were then asked about the international impact of the RTVV closure. The first question required a simple Yes / No / I don’t know answer about the news story, and it was related to the news coverage of the denouncement of the RTVV closure before the United Nations by the Norwegian NGO “Global Network for Rights and Development”, and by the “International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights” in the paper and/or digital press. The figure of 57% (56% in 2017) gave a negative assessment with a No response, while 43% (44% in 2017) simply did not know about it. The second question asked whether the news of the denouncement presented by Izquierda Unida del País Valenciano (United Leftist Party of the Valencian Region) before the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament regarding the closure of RTVV, which was understood as a violation of the European Charter for Minority Languages and the Treaty of Amsterdam, was adequately reported in the print and/or digital press (required a simple Yes / No / I don’t know answer about the news story).
The figure of 75% of respondents said that the coverage was inadequate, while 20% said they were unaware of the initiative, with results that were identical in the 2015 and 2017 surveys. Finally, the questionnaire include an open question in order