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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
Digital convergence involves its own model of production, narration, participation and
programming, which alters the established journalistic procedures followed in radio
newsrooms. With regard to general-interest radio, the commitment to provide listeners
with up-to-date news and a summary of ongoing current affairs via hourly bulletins and
information programs is complemented by additional journalistic work on the web.
In line with the position outlined in previous research 1 , the purpose of this paper is offer
an in-depth account of the similarities and differences between the journalistic
procedures followed in on-air and online broadcasting formats. This approach may
enable the definition of convergent editorial criteria common to both 2 .
Thus, following the methodological approach of content analysis, two aspects of online
and on-air broadcasting have been selected from the midday time-slot (12:00–14:00)
for comparative study: a) the evolution of the three main news stories in terms of
topics; and b) the use of multimedia and hypertextual resources in the narrative
development of those stories – in particular, the use of sound resources, the defining
feature of radio communication. The radio samples were taken on 24 April 2009 and 26
March 2010: 30 online entries and 30 on-air broadcasts; a total of 60 samples in all.
The midday time-slot (12:00–14:00) was chosen for the purposes of comparative
analysis because it is the time-segment in which the morning news and current affairs
contents produced and broadcast by general-interest radio stations in Spain are
evaluated in terms of news value. Therefore, the temporal criteria framed by the
scheduling of information programs have been followed: the hourly news bulletins at
12:00 and 13:00, and the main midday current affairs program at 14:00 (“Hora 14” on
Cadena SER, “La palestra” on COPE, “Noticias mediodía” on Onda Cero, “Primera
plana” on Punto Radio and “14 Horas” on Radio Nacional).
The overall objective of this paper is to describe to what extent the internet may
function as an additional axis to traditional on-air broadcasting in terms of the provision
of news continuity. At the same time, the questions of whether general-interest radio
stations in Spain are progressing towards an integrated editorial model of common
criteria with regard to information updates, a commitment to simultaneous broadcasting
and online publication, as well as the narrative development of both, are also
addressed.
1 The overarching purpose of this research, which was begun in 2006, was to assess the online visibility of Spanish
general-interest radio stations (SER, COPE, Onda Cero, Punto Radio and Radio Nacional), and to offer an in-depth
quantitative and qualitative account of the communications strategy adopted on the web, as well as exploring the
relationship between the station’s on-air and online formats. See Amoedo, Moreno & Martínez-Costa (2010);
Martínez-Costa, Moreno & Amoedo (2010); and Moreno, Martínez-Costa & Amoedo (2010).
2 The context of this paper is the 2009–2011 R&D project, Evolución de los cibermedios españoles en el marco de la
convergencia. Multiplataforma e integración periodística [The Development of Spanish Cybermedia in the
Convergence Context: Multiplatforms and Journalistic Integration] (CSO2009-13713-C05-03), a research project
funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Government of Spain); the aim is to define the informational and
narrative criteria of production, broadcasting and audience interaction in the current multimedia and multiplatform
model.
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