Page 124 - Comparing Media Systems THREE MODELS OF MEDIA AND POLITICS

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The Three Models

On contentious issues one can often see sharp political differences in the
Spanish media, manifested in contentious headlines, patterns of selec-
tion and emphasis (including both articles and photography) and bitter
polemics in editorials. To take one typical example – a fairly subtle one
by Spanish standards – when Spanish judge Balthasar Garz´ on moved
to bring former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to trial in Spain, the
media belonging to the different camps treated the case in widely varying
ways: the Left in Spain thinks of the Right as still in some sense Fascist
at heart, so the Pinochet case had important ideological implications.
Thus when Spanish Foreign Minister Matutes commented on the deci-
sion of Chilean President Frei to contest the Spanish extradition order
ı
in the World Court of Justice (September 20, 1999), El Pa´s carried the
headline, “Matutes applauds the decision of Chile to take to the Tribunal
of the Hague the ‘Pinochet case’” – associating the Partido Popular gov-
ernment with the defense of Pinochet. El Mundo saw no such defense
of Pinochet in the Minister’s statement: “MatutessaysFreiacted under
pressure in the ‘Pinochet case.’” One survey of Spanish journalists found
that more than 85 percent believed information and opinion were often
mixed (Ortega and Humanes 2000: 168).

POLITICAL PARALELLISM IN PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Public broadcasting systems in the Mediterranean countries have also
tended to be party-politicized, “politics over broadcasting” systems.
French television under de Gaulle was the quintessential case of what
we called in Chapter 2 the “government model” of broadcast organi-
zation. De Gaulle considered control of television essential to effective
government. The top personnel of the public broadcasting company
¸
Radio Television Francaise (RTF) were appointed directly by the Min-
ister of Information until 1964 and were under tight political control
even later (Kuhn 1995). Through the 1960s and 70s changes in govern-
ment in France would be reflected directly in the personnel and policies
of public broadcasting, as in any other agency of government. After a
series of reforms in the 1980s that failed to establish an independent
broadcasting regulator – mainly because governments were unwilling
to make appointment on a basis other than political loyalty – France
moved significantly away from government control with the formation
of the Conseil Sup´ erieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) in 1989 (Kuhn 1995;
Hoffmann-Riem 1996). One third of the members of the CSA are ap-
pointed by the president of the Republic and one third each by the

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