MODELS OF MEDIA STRUCTURE AND PERFORMANCE AND THE MEDIA IN COLOMBIA

Communication institutions

April 25. 2012

Adele Alandete 327164547

Mr. Eran Naot

Sammy Offer School of communication, The IDC, Herzelia

This paper aims to present, the way the different theories of media structure and performance, can be applied to the media in Colombia. In this specific case the development media model and to a lower extent the social responsibility theory will be studied.

Colombia has a free market economy with major commercial, and investment ties to the United States, the European Union, Venezuela and China. Colombia's wealth comes from a number of sources. It is rich in natural resources and agriculture. Colombia has the fourth largest economy in Latin America, but income and wealth are unevenly distributed. Only 13.8% of total income is allocated to the poorest half of the population, while the wealthiest 10% of the population benefit from 46.5%. Media holders are off course in this 10% percent of the population, and because of their economical power they strongly influence politics in the country. Colombia has two main political parties; liberal and conservative, almost entirely controlled by these few families. Each political party makes sure to reinforce themselves through the media outlets they own. Political end economical elites however make great efforts promote social change and economic progress in the nation (Garay, 2003).

Media in Colombia are regulated by the Ministry of Communications, and the National Television Commission. Media ownership is concentrated in the hands of wealthy families, large national conglomerates, or groups associated with either of the two dominant political parties. The Santo Domingo group, Colombia's largest industrial conglomerate, owns the Caracol TV and radio networks as well as the El Espectador newspaper. The rival RCN TV and radio network is controlled by the Ardila Lulle beer empire. Other prime-time TV news shows and the weekly political magazine Semana are owned by family members of former presidents of the two traditional Conservative and Liberal parties that have held power for the last 150 years (Pereira, 2001). However most broadcast media networks are still run by the state and their content is intended to empower the country´s progress and development. The main problem faced by the public networks, is the lack of resources; mainly technological, but they also lack of professionals in the field. These issues affect the quality of their content and therefore audiences, watch mostly the private channels and remain loyal to them. The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally has respected these rights in practice. Although security forces generally have not subjected journalists to harassment, intimidation, or violence, there have been exceptions, as well as reports of threats and violence against journalists by corrupt officials. Colombian journalists practice self-censorship to avoid reprisals by corrupt officials, criminals, and members of illegal armed groups (Velazques, 2003). Private television in Colombia is characterized for broadcasting telenovelas, series, game shows and TV news. (Daza & Arboleda, 2007).

Development theory was intended to recognize the fact that societies undergoing a transition from underdevelopment to independence and better material conditions often lack the infrastructure, the money, the traditions, the professional skills, and even the audiences needed to sustain media institutions compared to those of the first world. The media of many developing countries are subject to economic dependence, and foreign domination. The media theory for the development emphasizes that the primacy of the national development task, the pursuit of cultural and informational autonomy, support for democracy, and solidarity with other developing countries, Media should give priority in their content to the national culture and language. Because of the priority given to these ends, limited resources available for the media can legitimately be allocated by the government, and journalistic freedom can also be restricted. The responsibilities of the media are emphasized above their rights and freedom (Mcquail, 2005).

This model can be applied to the media in Colombia in different aspects, for instance one of the circumstances described in the model is the dependence on the developed countries, TV in Colombia has always relied on technological advancements from developed countries importing almost all the equipment mainly from the United States and Spain. All movies and series, imported from abroad are dubbed to Spanish, giving priority to the official language and at the same time, content becomes more accessible and understandable to the general population, and it protects Colombia’s culture. The news deal with the country itself and its close neighbors, for instance in newspapers, the international news section, refers mainly to South America and The United States, since they are its main trade partners. In addition to the two privately owned TV networks, there are three state-owned TV networks with national coverage, as well as six regional TV networks and dozens of local TV stations. All subsided and controlled by the state. More precisely by the national radio and television of Colombia (RTVC), a state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Information Technology and communications. The three TV national networks depending on RTVC are channels focused to educational and cultural contents. The national public television provides educational and cultural space for creation, knowledge and encounter. It recreates and reflects on Colombia and Colombians, spoken and expressed as Colombian culture, a culture that must be protected against all awes, because it is seen as the only way to guarantee the country´s progress. In addition, there are stories that, from local, connect viewers to the continent, increasing the solidarity with other developing countries in South America. A relevant example of the concern about development and protection of the national policy would be a program called ´´Colombia Develops Today for a Better Tomorrow´´ it mostly portrays stories about citizens that have succeeded in different fields by following and keeping their traditions. Another aspect is the dependence of the media in foreign investors, most media outlets in Colombia are owned partially by foreigner conglomerates, as is the case of the daily newspaper El Tiempo, sold to the Spanish conglomerate Grupo Planeta, interestingly the rest of the actions belong to the Santos family, related to the current president (Pereira, 2001).

The media in Colombia can be also studied by the social responsibility model. One of the most important laws in Colombia regarding the media, states that the media organizations have the duty to encourage pluralism, as a fundamental part of social responsibility. Colombia is a country of great demographical diversity, for this reason the media must portray content that reflects the different target audiences. This can be seen almost in any broadcast, where people from different races and minorities are frequently portrayed. Another aspect is regarding licenses, even though most media in Colombia are still publicly owned, the government has given away licenses to set up privately owned television networks as previously mentioned, In 2009 a license for a third national private television network was granted by the Colombian government which is still pending. (Daza& Arboleda, 2007).

In conclusion as presented throughout this essay the normative theories of media structure and performance, are very useful to describe and classify the mass media worldwide, however no model can be found in its pure state, because communications are constantly changing, improving and no country wants to stay behind, for instance Colombia is a developing country, yet some aspects of the social responsibility model are found. In a near future the democratic-participant theory might be the most relevant media-administration interplay. In order to extend in this analysis, the best way to do it, will be studying each media outlet separately, and not as a whole as it has been done in this paper.

References

Daza, S., & Arboleda, T. (2007). Comunicación publica de la ciencia y la tecnología en Colombia: políticas para la democratización del conocimiento? [ Public communication of science and technology in Colombia: policies for the democratization of knowledge?]. Signo y Pensamiento, 26(50)100-125. Retrieved on April 2, 2012 from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/860/86005008.pdf

Garay, L. J. (2003). En torno a la economía política de la exclusión social en Colombia. [About the political economy of the social exclusion in Colombia]. Revista de Economia Institucional, 5(8)15-31. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from http://foros.uexternado.edu.co/ecoinstitucional/index.php/ecoins/article/view/203/188
McQuail, D. (2005). Mass Communication Theory (5th) . London: Sage Publications.

Pereira, J.M. (2001). Comunicaciones y ciudadanía. Apuntes para conocer las televisiones y radios en Colombia. [Communications and citizenship. Annotations in order to know the television and radio in Colombia]. Signo y Pensamiento, 20(38)102-116. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/860/86011717010.pdf

Velásquez, C. A. (2003). El estado de la libertad de prensa en Colombia: una mirada con énfasis en las regiones. [The state of press freedom in Colombia: an overview with emphasis in the regions]. Palabra Clave, (8). Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/649/64900801.pdf