Infotainment

Purpose: The main concern of this study is to compare how the government and private FM radio channels cater to information literacy to the general people through their programmes.
Design/methodology/approach: The study encompasses 1 Government FM channel namely FM Rainbow run by All India Radio from the Akashvani Bhavan, Kolkata and 1 Private FM channel namely Radio Mirchi Kolkata run by the Times Group. The radio personnel associated with both the channels were interviewed in order to accomplish the study. A web survey was carried out to depict the effect of the information literacy programmes of the channels on the audiences. The observation method was also implemented for detailed focus.
Findings: It was found that there is no declared “Information Literacy” programme conducted by both the concerned FM channels but they cater to information literacy informally through various programmes. Though FM Rainbow Kolkata had many kinds of information literacy initiatives than Radio Mirchi Kolkata, FM Rainbow Kolkata remained far behind than Radio Mirchi Kolkata in terms of the preference of the respondents.
Originality: Through the review of related literature, it was found that no such study of its kind has been conducted so far.

El artículo describe las representaciones de la emigración juvenil a Londres hechas por los medios de comunicación generalistas y por los propios protagonistas en las redes sociales, partiendo del estudio de la construcción de las identidades y de la teoría del framing. Metodología: El análisis de contenido comparativo de doce noticias televisivas y de un documental y una webserie distribuidos por las redes sociales, complementado con entrevistas en profundidad a un grupo de jóvenes emigrados a Londres. Resultados y conclusiones: El artículo señala cómo la emigración juvenil no ha sido un tema predominante en la agenda mediática televisiva y cómo su tratamiento informativo tiende a la descontextualización y al esquematismo. Los documentales y la webserie distribuidos en las redes sociales suponen un retrato más fiel de la realidad de los emigrantes, y han constituido un punto de encuentro para personas que buscaban compartir sus experiencias y una información más detallada del proceso.

Resumen:
Los diarios deportivos españoles, como Marca y Sport, han comenzado a apostar por las revistas para móviles y tabletas con el fin de dar respuesta a la creciente cantidad de usuarios que acceden a las noticias de su equipo favorito a cualquier hora y desde cualquier parte. Estos nuevos productos complementan los contenidos que ya ofrecen estos medios en sus ediciones digital e impresa, ampliando la cobertura a modalidades menos habituales, experimentando en la innovación y tratando el deporte desde un prisma más cercano, como un soporte más orientado al entretenimiento.

Abstract:
Sports daily newspapers, like Marca and Sport, started publishing new tablet and mobile magazines in order to provide a response to the growing number of users who access to news of their favourite teams at anytime and from anywhere. These products complement newspapers content on their printed media and digital editions, by expanding coverage to less popular sports, exploring the innovation and giving sports information a closer approach, behaving as a more entertainment-oriented platform.

Newscasts are one of the most easily recognisable elements of any TV channel. In Spain there is a tough
battle for the audience between all open air stations in this field. Despite the increasing quantity of
available newscasts, their content is still walking towards a higher homogenization (Vicente-Mariño &
Monclús, 2009). Within this wider process of convergence, infotainment appears as a clear trend,
following a similar pattern as the one described by Thussu (2008). This paper is focused on the role
played by the main characters of broadcasted news, as they are a key part of any newscast.
One can detect this transition in the Spanish newscasts from a traditional way of reporting daily news to
a new combination between anonymous and famous. Blurred boundaries are not enough to keep the
distance and the way they are presented is sometimes biased. By means of a content analysis of six
Spanish TV channels during a sample week, this paper presents the combination of these two social
groups. TV channel’s ideological position and thematic section are the two main cleavages leading to
alternative models, but all of them devoted more space to anonymous than some years ago (Langer,
1998; Prado, 2003)

A between-subjects experiment (N=531) studied the juxtaposition of programming from the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week with shark conservation public service announcements. Cultivation and priming theories provided a theoretical framework for testing how shark-on-human violence paired with different types of PSAs (celebrity endorser present or not) influence audiences’ emotional reactions, threat perceptions, willingness to support conservation, and intentions to seek information. Findings reveal that shark-on-human violence and presence of a PSA influence fear reactions and perceived threat of shark attacks. Findings related to conservation support, information seeking, and the role of previous Shark Week viewing and demographics are also discussed.

The infotainment format offers candidates an informal setting to show a more personal side of themselves to the electorate, opening themselves up to potential voters. An example of media hybridisation, social networks users can immediately comment on infotainment television programmes, a process known as second screening. These second screeners tend to be especially active in politics. This paper analyses the immediate emotional reaction of these users as they watch infotainment programmes that air during the campaign or pre-campaign seasons and feature political candidates as guests. We have confirmed that second screeners react more emotionally towards the candidate when his or her party is mentioned, and less emotionally when the host displays an aggressive attitude through his or her non-verbal communication. When issues related to the candidate’s personal lives are discussed, users’ emotional reactions improve slightly. The relevance of this research stems from the fact that we are witnessing the consolidation of a politics that increasingly strays from ideological questions, and instead focuses on more emotional and personal issues.

Este artículo examina los programas pioneros de «infoentretenimiento» político emitidos
por la televisión en España debido a su relevancia desde el punto de vista de la historia televisiva más
reciente y teniendo en cuenta el vacío historiográfico existente en torno a estas emisiones. El trabajo
parte de los estudios publicados sobre este género televisivo y los estilemas predominantes en los
programas de «infoentretenimiento» actuales que se emiten en la TDT (Berrocal et al., 2014; Berrocal,
Campos & Redondo, 2014; Ortells, 2011). El estudio busca analizar, desde el punto de vista cualitativo
y a través de una ficha de análisis aplicada a una muestra de dichos espacios pioneros, si en dichos
programas aparecían ya los estilemas que definen el «infoentretenimiento» político en la actualidad.

Introducción. El artículo se incluye dentro de las investigaciones empíricas sobre infoentretenimiento y realiza una caracterización de los estilemas del infoentretenimiento televisivo comprobando su presencia dentro de la programación de los canales generalistas de la TDT española. Metodología. Se analizan las parrillas de los seis canales generalistas contabilizando el tiempo dedicado al infoentretenimiento; posteriormente se realiza un análisis de contenido de los espacios en prime time. Resultados. Se observa cómo el infoentretenimiento ocupa una posición privilegiada dentro de la programación aunque con diferencias significativas entre cadenas. Como estilemas dominantes destacan el humorismo, la dramatización y los recursos técnicos para espectacularizar la imagen. Discusión. El infoentretenimiento se consolida como un macrogénero relevante con porcentajes que van del 34,91% (La Sexta) al 8,12% (La 2), siendo el magazine y el debate los formatos dominantes. Sorprendentemente La 1 de TVE con un índice de infoentretenimiento del 18,10% se sitúa por encima de Antena 3 o Cuatro.

This article introduces the concept of visual infotainment, the aspects of infotain-ment found in visual artefacts employed in the news. Using a case study, we examine the photographs published in the digital media to report on the negotiations between the Greek-and Turkish-Cypriot communities, which took place in 2016 and 2017. A four-level visual framing analysis is used to identify a consistent set of frames. It aims to identify the political ideologies that appear to be behind the visual infotainment in these pictorial reports, and the specifi c ways in which hard news can be transformed into soft news. Our research confi rms the presence of visual infotainment elements of personalisation, emotion, morbidity and sensation-alism. Overall, the study shows that visual infotainment serves to establish visual frames produced by and for contradictory propagandas, one of which favours ethnic nationalism while the other promotes confl ict resolution.

The political life presentation on media screens (politics screen, the screen of politics) is transformed increasingly to the format of show and entertainment. This article attempts to address practices such presentations in consideration of three accent made. Firstly, accent is connected with consideration of the predominantly modern Russian experience of presenting political life in the screen media culture. This experience is intensively transformed, therefore its comprehension is important not only in the actual context, but also for subsequent systematization. Secondly, emphasis is on the styling of positioning and promotion of personal brands of contemporary Russian politicians in the media space. Thirdly, focus is due to the emotional component of the contemporary political life presentation in the Russian screen culture. That emotional context determines the estimated relationships of meaning. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the transmission of intolerance and aggression towards political opponents, or also their mocking. On the one hand, the simplification of emotional narratives reduces political participation in the passive consumption of the ready show, giving new opportunities to «screen politics», mass political manipulation. On the other hand, this involves extra efforts to the search for forms of real political participation.

«Экран политики», то есть презентация политической жизни на медийных экранах во все большей степени трансформируется к формату зрелища и развлечения. Данная статья содержит попытку рассмотрения практик такой презентации. В рассмотрении сделаны три акцента. Первый акцент связан с рассмотрением преимущественно современного российского опыта представления политической жизни в экранной медийной культуре. Этот опыт интенсивно трансформируется, поэтому его осмысление важно не только в актуальном контексте, но и для последующих систематизаций. Второй акцент сделан на стилистике позиционирования и продвижения личностных брендов современных российских политиков в медийном пространстве. Третий акцент обусловлен эмоциональной составляющей презентации современной политической жизни в российской экранной культуре. Именно эмоциональный контекст предопределяет оценочные отношения в смыслообразовании. При этом преимущественно транслируется нетерпимость и агрессия по отношению к политическим оппонентам, или также их высмеиванию. Тенденция к упрощению эмоциональных нарративов в еще большей степени редуцирует политическое участие в пассивное потребление готового зрелища, давая новые возможности «политике экрана», массового политического манипулирования — с одной стороны. А с другой — предполагает дополнительные усилия, поиск форм реального политического участия.

This research analyzes the use of Twitter by the four main Spanish political parties in the electoral campaign of December
2015. It delves into the tendencies of the tweets, published from the official accounts of the parties and the candidates,
and those hashtags or tags that became national trending topics. It discovers that they emphasize the stylistic role of the
candidate and use quinine humor, with the aim of humanizing the candidate and bringing him closer to the audience. According
to the conclusions, getting the most virality does not ensure electoral victory, but the trends of the studied period
yield interesting recommendations for political communication.

En este documento se ofrece el índice de esta obra colectiva, así como la introducción crítica preparada por los profesores Javier Marzal y Andreu Casero, que constituye el marco de referencia para el debate y la reflexión sobre el auge del infoentretenimiento en el periodismo audiovisual contemporáneo.
El título completo de esta extensa introducción es: «Presentación: Algunas claves para la comprensión de las hibridaciones entre información y entretenimiento en el periodismo audiovisual: el infoentretenimiento en la era del espectáculo». Contiene los siguientes apartados:
Introducción. El estudio de los programas informativos en televisión. El espectáculo de la televisión. Las hibridaciones del periodismo en televisión: aspectos conceptuales y analíticos. Propuestas para el estudio del periodismo en televisión. Bibliografía.

L'eterna emergenza che caratterizza la professione giornalistica in termini di mission e soprattutto di reputazione costringe a dichiarare lo stato di crisi. È una prova di sensibilità la circostanza che studiosi e giornalisti siano impegnati in una riflessione anche autocritica. L'informazione ha perso credibilità ma soprattutto declina vistosamente, in quanto agenzia di mediazione, ed è difficile non annotare che ciò avviene a fronte di un mix sempre più sciatto tra giornalismo e spazi dell'intrattenimento e del talk show, senza aver mai davvero valutato l'interazione tra giornalismo e linguaggio televisivo e, dunque, in una condizione in cui l'arrivo prepotente di Internet finisce per sottolineare le difficoltà di una vera integrazione tra narrazione giornalistica e nuovi media. Occorre studiare tutte le vie d'uscita dalla crisi. Le promesse della Rete e il rinnovamento connesso alla formazione sono chance per un giornalismo che troppo spesso fa di tutto per legittimare l'etichetta della "casta". Sullo sfondo, il passaggio al futuro del giornalismo partecipativo, la riscoperta dell'inchiesta e la possibilità che dietro la crisi si realizzi un'identità nuova: il Neogiornalismo.

This article analyzes the role of the political «infotainment» prosumer on Internet. In the second half of the XX century, telecracy was the predominant one-way communication model that not only popularized politics but also transformed politics into entertainment or «politainment». The XXI century began with the conviction that the Internet would lead to a bidirectional communication model in which true dialogue between political power and citizens would emerge. This research explores a new field of study: Web 2.0 «politainment» and prosumers’ attitudes and actions within this new communication sphere. The objective of the study is to identify the kind of political content Internet users consume and produce. To achieve this, we made a case study of the political information produced and consumed on YouTube, and in particular of a speech given by Ana Botella, the Mayor of Madrid, before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September 2013. The 40 most-watched videos on YouTube during the week of the Mayor’s appearance as well as those viewed in the month that followed have been analyzed, in addition to the 3,000 comments on these videos. The conclusion shows that the prosumption of «politainment» on Internet is characterized by massive consumption of information but passive reaction with regard to production and participation.