Recent times clearly show the "fascination" and influence that media exert over the political universe.
Media play a relevant part diffusing information - distributing "messages" - in the social environment. Communities are in an accelerated mutation; citizens live in a hurry: time to think and meditate is, more and more, less; Media are transforming, in a decisive manner, the organization of social life, creating news forms of action, interaction and exercise of power. Televisions, Newspapers, Radios, Blogs, are the means chosen by citizens to intervene near the Political Power: i) Media are their "active" voice - once these permit them to diffuse their opinions and ideas; ii) Citizens also behave reactively - because when they choose a certain newspaper, magazine or television, they are strengthen the capacity of intervention of that newspaper, magazine or television: this reality is similar to the idea of the "monetary votes" that economic doctrine emphasize; when a citizen choose a certain newspaper, for example, he's conceding "Power" to that newspaper; Media may manage this "Power" in the public arena, in its own interest; Media controls all this "signification network" built in the interaction with citizens and by them transferred in the act of choice.
Role of media, in this context, is essential: it permits to equilibrate the "imbalance" that exists between State and Citizens; By accessing to Media, citizens no longer need to remain isolated in their individual existence; plus: the bigger is the "significance network", the bigger will be its "influence" in the social environment, its capacity to pressure Political Power(s), and their ability to balance the relations established with others in the social arena.
But increasing penetration of media in the Public space may also generate, in some cases, certain distorted effects, putting in danger the achievement of Democratic values.
On the one hand, journalistic language, framed during decades, represents a particular vision of the Society, subject to its own rules and conventions; this language is a synthesis of the interactions generated in the bosom of media professional class; thus, express a subjective Vision of the Society. In this context, journalism contributes to the construction of an idea of the Society that is, frequently, imposed to common citizens. Journalism created a particular axiological scansion - which we may designate as "News Valuation and Values" - that, more and more, incorporate in its messages the unexpected, the eccentric, the unusual, focusing in "dark side of the moon".
On the other hand, journalistic language is the final product of a rationalization process of the "obvious" or "evident": daily facts; this process follows certain "framing" rules; the output are "piece of news". This "frames" - usually in the fields of the "politically correct" - (as they emerge from the entity that produces it) - sometimes withdraws from the original "frames" of the receivers; this receivers, slowly and by degrees, and in the absence of self-reflection, are loosing their identities.
We all live in a hurry; that's why we cannot dismiss the activity of media, that have an essential role conceiving and divulging different public opinions; Media are vital when playing its natural role of mediation, when act as a link between the different groups of actors of the community.
But it's important to fight a tendency to alienation, a desire of convening particular conceptions of the world, trying to create large consensus, which makes media appetitive at the eyes of the Political Powers - not for its capacity to communicate, but for its ability to manipulate voters
We can measure a certain tendency to alienation existing in traditional Media by analyzing the reasons of the success of blogs. On the one hand, language used in blogs is not "framed" - in the sense that is not subject to the guidelines of the editorial office; on the other hand, bloggers and visitors of blogs have a primary purpose: to communicate and interact around information and news. Blogs give voice to a pure - and rough, too - wish of mediation; and also reflect the desire of participation in a communication process laid at a citizens' scale.
Rodrigo Adão da Fonseca
