Proximity television and audiences: tensions in the media territory

Abstract

Objective: Media centralism and the lack of attention to the preferences and demands of local audiences is an obvious reality that must be faced by those who live outside large cities and capitals, understanding that there are audiences that demand local content, but that must settle for a programming produced from and for the capital, even more so when it comes to the Chilean television system.This article characterizes the tensions of local audiences in northern Chile in relation to their local television, also called proximity.

Materials and methods: The study carried out a qualitative methodology, since it seeks to understand human behavior in a given territory and historical moment. The data collection was carried out using the technique of focus groups in order to explain and deepen the situations of people as local audiences and their feelings and thoughts on various problems. The focus groups discussed their local television and their link with national television considering the informational centralism and political centralism within the Coquimbo Region. The sample corresponds to the audience of cities belonging to urban and rural communes of the Coquimbo Region, in Chile, where there are local television media and that have declared their intention to migrate to digital television. The cities that are part of the study are: Andacollo, La Serena, Los Vilos, Illapel and Salamanca.For recruitment, the snowball method was used, with a total of 52 participants. All the participants were over 18 years of age with a residence of more than 10 years in the city. There was gender balance. Six focus groups were held in neighborhood offices in each city. The sessions were recorded and later transcribed, being systematized using the Atlas.ti software, version 9.

Resulted: The results are described through three categories of analysis, regarding the opinions of the audiences: 1) Local information 2) National television: positive and negative aspects and 3) Information centralism and media demands. 1) Local information as a center of interest: Audiences place local news among their preferences. In each focus group, the informative genre of these media was highly valued and required. It represents a fundamental demand when evaluating local television positively. 2) Link with national television coverage: Along with the preference for local news, there is also an unfavorable opinion towards national news and towards the journalistic routines of the capital television stations whose coverage privileges the events that occurred in the Metropolitan Region in the information guidelines, often falling into sensationalism, especially when it comes to police court facts. 3) Information centralism and media demands: in the opinion of the participants, the tensions between the local and the capital are not only appreciated at the country level, but also between regional capitals, provinces and communes, following the political-administrative division of Chile.

Conclusions: Regarding the characteristics of local television consumption, a first conclusion was the confirmation of the interest and consumption of local audiences in content that addresses issues related to their environment, an issue that is in line with previous studies on communication and local television. Similar to national television consumption, local news represented the preferred content. If there is a fire or a traffic accident in the city, audiences want to see it on their local television and, hopefully, live or as instantly as possible. This is informative content that does not compete in any case with national television, as it deals with local news events. Unless something out of the ordinary happens, whose connotation is national and in this case -the fewest times- the city, province or region makes news and appears nationally. A very important link was detected between local audiences with their own territories. The link was verified through two factors: a) the expectations of seeing local content not only on themes about their cities, but also from geographically broader places, such as communes, provinces or the Coquimbo Region itself; b) a large part of the social demands that underlie the opinions of the audiences surround feelings of belonging, desire for decentralization and local development.The need for representation of local audiences is verified, that is, seeing their territories on the screen, feeling reflected on national TV through their cultural, territorial, geographical, touristic, or other particularities is the cause that is associated Local (non-capital) audiences are part of a marginalized sector from a political and economic point of view . In this sense, there is a glimpse of a disconnection between the political/public world that promotes actions that should benefit the community, but that fail to reach potential users in a good way. In the same line of discussion, social demands for access to public information that benefits them and brings them closer to local political actors are detected. Know and understand the territorial public policies that result in a better quality of life. These social/political demands are intermingled with the media needs that could be channeled into more spaces to debate, talk and express their opinions to participate in the local public debate.