A proposal for an index to measure the informative quality of the news services of regional television channels in Spain

Abstract

In Spain the media is organized in three levels: national, autonomic and local. The autonomic or regional television system is in its majority public, and its primary functions are linked to the political dynamics of each particular region. This article sets out a comparative analysis of the television newscasts with the aim of creating an index to determinate their degree of quality. To do so, four Spanish regional channels were analyzed: the Canary Islands´ Radio Televisión Canaria (RTVC), the Balearic Islands´ Televisió de les Illes Balears (IB3), Castile and León´s Castilla y León Televisión (CyLTV) and Navarre´s Navarra Televisión (NaTV). With the data obtained, we developed an indicator for political representation (R) and an indicator for the value of news frames (E). The combination of both indicators allows detecting anomalous behaviors when representing political parties. Our results show that there is a positive over-representation of political parties in those regions where these parties do not hold a parliamentary majority. Nonetheless, in these cases, the index shows a more appropriate value.