MEDIA SELECTION

In order to study the global media discourse on forest science, two internationally oriented print media and one Chilean print media were selected for analysis. Print media was selected due to pragmatic reasons of research; to carry out analysis of discourses

37 http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php/lng_en (last seen 21.08.08).

38 http://www.scielo.cl/criterios/sp/ (last seen 21.08.08).

Methods and Materials

63

propagated by international television or radio is a tremendous task that goes beyond the scope of this work.

3.2.2.1.GLOBAL MEDIA

The globalization process has of course reached and has been propagated by mass communication. Today, access to media products is easier than years ago. Recipients from the entire world view, hear, or read news delivered by many internationally-oriented mass media. However, an international orientation of the mass media does not assure its political or social influence. If a media does have an influence not only on society (the general public) but as well on other media, then it can be referred to as a leading or opinion leading media (Wilke, 1999: pp.302-03). A media will be considered a leading one when complying with certain criteria: 1) a strong circulation or reach; 2) it should be used by the social ruling class, by decision makers, and by participants of the elites; 3) journalists make use of it acting as multipliers of the information and viewpoints reflect in it; 4) it should also be cited frequently by other media; 5) based on content (through agenda-setting and/or framing) and/or formal (arrangement, design, layout, etc.) characteristics a media can be seen as a leading one; and 6) leading media can become quality media -if it is sustained on exclusiveness, journalistic accomplishment, as well as on renowned personnel- and afterwards become prestige media enjoying excellent public reputation. Only those media that stand out for the wealth of their news and the depth of their investigations can be considered quality media (Maherzi, 1997: p.121).

Newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are considered international quality publications (having readers throughout the globe), even though their circulation is far from that of some national newspapers (Maherzi, 1997: p.121). Since both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are newspapers that generally reproduce economic or financial issues, they were not considered for this analysis. The International Herald Tribune, on the other hand, does report on wide variety of issues throughout a wide variety of locations. Another print media that has international orientation is the weekly Time Magazine.

If the medialization of the discourse on forest science on a global level is to be analyzed, then both these international publications seem to be good candidates for carrying out the research.

Recognition that these publications represent a western-orientation to news and issues must be made. Both these publications are owned by actors of industrialized countries and thus might favor in their reports western-oriented issues and actors. However, in their reports they try to cover all geographical locations. Time Magazine even has worldwide editions such as Time Europe, Time Asia, Time Canada, and Time South Pacific.

This is a bias that must be accepted, if the research concentrates on English speaking media. For future research considering international media written in other languages than English might be a reasonable step to take if the objective is to study global media.

64

3.2.2.2.NATIONAL MEDIA

A survey administered to the members of the Chilean elite and published by the United Nations Development Program (PNUD, 2004) revealed that the mass media were the most powerful members of the elite³⁹. According to them, the mass media is the actor that has the most influence in Chile in comparison to 31 other actors such as economic and financial ministries (second place) and big economic groups (third place). Non-governmental organizations and union associations take the 31^st and 32^nd place respectively. The survey reveals (PNUD, 2004: pp.195-98) the perception that mass media is powerful because they force the elite as a whole to act in a more transparent way. As well, the relevance of the mass media in Chile is based, according to the PNUD, on the increasingly manifest need of the population to demand explanations from those who run the country. The public is thus increasingly demanding an opening of the obscure environments of power. “The (Chilean) elites comprehend that their strategies of action depend on the access to the mass media” (PNUD, 2004: p.196); in accordance to this, intentional strategies carried out by the elite arise in order to take part in public discourses.

The perception that the mass media are the actors which have gained more power in the present time is mentioned by the Chilean public in a national survey administered by the PNUD. An interesting result is that the public value the mass media as allies when encountering situations of abuse or necessity (PNUD, 2004: pp.197-98) however, they do not perceive them as part of the most powerful actors in Chile (these being the government, entrepreneurs, and political parties).

Another interesting result relevant for this research is that in Chile, the majority of the elite maintain contacts with the mass media. Table 3.3 reflects firstly the most powerful actors perceives by the elite (Power environment); here the elite recognized the power of the mass media ahead of all others. Secondly, the elite was asked to share with which actor the maintained important formal or informal links, the mass media was the most named actor ahead of research centers and much ahead of political parties (contacts column in table 3.3). Finally, the elite was asked to name which actors served as interconnector (interconnectors column in table 3.3) to others so that without their help they would not appear within the different networks; the mass media here lost in favor of research centers and universities, amongst other actors. Thus, from the point of view of the contacts, the influence of the mass media for the Chilean elite is highlighted through the result. An even more interesting result is that research centers and universities appear as first actors that help the interconnectiveness of powerful actors. The PNUD reflects that along with delivering information and diagnosing problems they serve as an instance of encounter and interconnection for the Chilean elite.

39 Members of the Chilean elite were defined by this study as the minority of social actors of a country which concentrate the most share of power which not only allow them to differentiate themselves from the common population and exercise high-level functions but which are compelled to in some way justify their forms of actions (PNUD, 2004: p.173).

Methods and Materials

65

Table 3.3: Elite: contacts and interconnectors (Source: PNUD, 2004, p. 200)

Ranking Power Environment Contacts Interconnectors

1 Mass Media Mass Media Research Centers and Universities

2 Economic Ministries Research Centers and

Universities Economic and Legal Advisers of High Level

3 Big Economic Groups Senators Banks

4 Central Bank Chamber of Deputies NGOS and Associations

5 Political Ministries Economic Ministries Entrepreneur Associations

6 Church Banks Senators

7 Entrepreneur

Associations Political Parties Mass Media

As mass media is seen in Chile as a powerful actor by the elite, and accordingly, they create strategies for gaining access to them (and thus to public discourse), mass media is a relevant research object to examine on a national level. For the Chilean public, mass media is a recognized ally in the control of powerful actors. This perception allows assuming that the public look to the society-relevant discussion taking place through the mass media and might be then influenced in what is proposed through it. Additionally, the mass media play a role for the research organizations as these are a source of contact and information for the news coverage of the media. If contact between the national media and national research organizations is taking place, then this makes even more relevant a study on the orientation of science to the criteria of the media. And so, the mass media play an important role for the Chilean society being it, through this perspective, relevant to study. As a global and local comparison is to be undertaken it is necessary to have a similar point of comparison regarding the discourse. Therefore, the Chilean printed mass media is the subject of study.

The political influence of the mass media in Chile has been recorder through the actions which took place until 1973 (Corrales and Sandoval, 2004). The Chilean mass media until that time was always clearly classifiable into a specific point of the political spectrum. In many cases actors of political parties either associated or owned some sort of printed mass media (Corrales and Sandoval, 2004). This situation is modified after the coup d‟état of 1973, where all „political press‟ was afterwards band; leading to the situation where the two most important press consortiums, friendly with the military regime of the time, found themselves with no immediate competitors and were free to dominate the market.

After the return to democracy this situation was expected to change however, according to Corrales and Sandoval, due to the lack of adequate policies and the view taken by the newly elected government that the market would regulate itself, this has not been the case.

According to the National Press Association of Chile (ANP, 2006) in Chile today there are 96 printed publications, of these 59 correspond to publications edited at least four times a week (for example daily newspapers) and 37 to publications with less than four times a week as frequency of publication. At first glance, Chile today seems to reflect a multiplicity and variety in the offer of written press however, the situation is still characterized by an oligopoly (or better said duopoly) in the area of printed media. The two mayor concerns that concentrate the printed media are the group of enterprises of El Mercurio (belonging to the Edwards Family) and the Consorcio Periodístico de Chile Sociedad Anónima (COPESA)⁴⁰ (Sunkel and Geoffroy, 2001; Corrales and Sandoval, 2004).

40 Journalistic Consortium Ltd.

66

The more important of the two, considering market share and influence, is the El Mercurio group. This group owns the majority of daily newspapers throughout Chile (Corrales and Sandoval, 2004) the most important of the publications being the newspaper of national distribution El Mercurio. Copesa is the second most important owner of printed media, owning amongst others the newspaper of national distribution La Tercera.

Historical data on circulation of the printed media in Chile is not available. Only after 2003 statistics were gathered and published by the National Press Association of Chile (ANP). These statistics reflect the importance of both of the above mentioned daily newspapers in Chile. Table 3.4 summarizes the tendency shown in Chile regarding the circulation numbers of the daily newspapers. El Mercurio clearly dominates these numbers both during the week and weekend. La Tercera on the other hand, ranks second in circulation only on the weekends. Popular daily newspapers such as La Cuarta and Las Últimas Noticias rank respectively second and third on weekdays but fail to do so on weekends. Both these newspapers are owned by the Press Consortiums mentioned above (Sunkel and Geoffroy, 2001: p.29).

Table 3.4: Circulation numbers for Chilean daily newspapers (Modified from: ANP, 2007) Monday-Friday Saturday-Sunday

El Mercurio 143.301 225.190

La Tercera 108.039 210.030

Las Últimas Noticias 132.479 173.922

La Cuarta 141.087 163.936

Circulation numbers were on the one hand criteria for pre-selecting El Mercurio and La Tercera as research objects which on the other hand represent newspapers with a recognizable influence on the elites of the country. This is especially the case for El Mercurio, which historically has been present in the political debates of the country. Such has been the influence of the newspaper throughout different phases of the history of the country, that many authors, amongst them Correa (Correa, 2005: p. 52) coincide with naming it as the media which -along with political parties- supported the right-wing discourse of the Chilean elites of the time before and after September 11^th of 1973⁴¹. La Tercera, on the other hand, has as well been associated with the right-wing political parties of the country, but has not been the object of much research as its competitor.

Both of these daily newspapers were considered for analysis, finally deciding on El Mercurio, due to the availability of the newspaper in its printed form in a specific Chilean library, and the completeness of its internet search engine⁴².