Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1.1

Catalan Journal of Communication
& Cultural Studies

Volume 1 Number 1 – 2009
The Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies (CJCS) Editors
aims to provide an international discussion forum for critical Principal Editor
thought and study. CJCS is committed to publishing research Enric Castelló
and scholarship on the analysis of media and culture. The jour- Rovira i Virgili University
nal pays particular attention to original research related to the Associate Editors
Catalan cultural and media systems or to any broader issue in Josetxo Cerdán
the field of specific interest from a Catalan perspective. Rovira i Virgili University
CJCS’s approach is multidisciplinary, publishing articles deal-
Jordi Farré
ing directly or through a comparative frame with media and Rovira i Virgili University
communication history, media and cultural policies, audience
and reception studies, cultural and national identity, media dis- Hugh O’Donnell
Glasgow Caledonian University
courses, intercultural communication, sport and media, lan-
guage and media language uses, new media and the internet,
gender studies, cinema, popular culture, media and cultural Contact
Catalan Journal of Communication
industries, public relations, advertising, tourism and cultural & Cultural Studies
heritage. All the submissions and proposals must be sent to the Department of Communication Studies
electronic address of the journal. Rovira i Virgili University
CJCS publishes two issues per year containing peer reviewed Av. Catalunya, 35. D. 325
43002 Tarragona, Spain
articles, research notes and commentary, contemporary events,
Tel: +34 977 558531
trends and debates, interview, key documents and book reviews. Fax: +34 977 558617
Its overall aim is to disseminate research that will inform and E-mail: catalan.journal@urv.cat
stimulate scholarly interest in Catalonia as a complex society
with a growing international profile.
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies is published two times a year by ISSN 1757-1898
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK. The current subscription rates
are £33/$65 (personal) and £180/$290 (institutional). Prices include UK/US postage.
Please add £9 if ordering within the EU and £12 elsewhere. Advertising enquiries
should be addressed to: marketing@intellectbooks.com
© 2009 Intellect Ltd. Authorisation to photocopy items for internal or personal use
or the internal or personal use of specific clients is granted by Intellect Ltd for libraries
and other users registered with the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) in the UK or
the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service in the USA Printed and bound in Great Britain by
provided that the base fee is paid directly to the relevant organisation. 4edge, UK.
CJCS_1.1_00_FM_01-04.indd 1 8/18/09 7:31:58 AM

Editorial Board
David Atkinson – University of Limerick
Jordi Busquet – Ramon Llull University
Arantxa Capdevila – Rovira i Virgili University
Paul Capriotti – Rovira i Virgili University
Andreu Casero – University Jaume I
Matilde Delgado – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
David Domingo – Rovira i Virgili University
Josep Fernández Cavia – Pompeu Fabra University
Carme Ferré – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Sunsi Huertas – Rovira i Virgili University
Fernando León-Solís – University of the West of Scotland
Bernat López – Rovira i Virgili University
Jaume Martí-Olivella – University of New Hampshire
Lluís Pastor – Open University of Catalonia
Joan Ramón Resina – Stanford University
Iolanda Tortajada – Rovira i Virgili University
Advisory Board
Antonio Ariño – University of Valencia
Milly Buonanno – University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’
Salvador Cardús – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Maria Corominas – Catalan Audiovisual Council
Brad Epps – Harvard University
Carmelo Garitaonandia – University of the Basque Country
Josep Gifreu – Pompeu Fabra University
Román Gubern – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Josep Lluís Gomez-Mompart – University of Valencia
Rosario Lacalle – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Margarita Ledo – University of Santiago de Compostela
Enric Marín – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Josep Maria Martí – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Lothar Mikos – Film and TV Academy ‘Konrad Wolf’, Postdam
Miquel de Moragas – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Guillermo Orozco – Universidad de Guadalajara
Miquel Àngel Pradilla – Rovira i Virgili University
Emili Prado – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Giuseppe Richeri – University of Italian Switzerland
Miquel Rodrigo – Pompeu Fabra University
Elizabeth Russell – Rovira i Virgili University
Imma Tubella – Open University of Catalonia
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CJCS Notes for
contributors 2009
CJCS accepts original contributions for Editors will select the work using the • Author addresses – the submitted
the next sections and accomplishing abovementioned criteria and the material should include details of
following guidelines: authors must seek permission for the full postal and e-mail
translation and publication in CJCS. addresses of the contributor for
Articles We encourage researchers to suggest correspondence purposes.
Articles should be between 6,000– articles for this section along with an • Author Biography – authors
8,000 words. They must be based argument for their suitability. should include a short biography
on original research or offer well of around 100 words, specifying
grounded theoretical contributions, Review the institution with which they
they must be written in a clear and CJCS also publishes short book are affiliated.
concise style in English and they must reviews, in English and commissioned • Copyright consent form giving us
not be under consideration by any by the Editors, about leading editorial your permission to publish your
other publication. In the first instance projects in Catalan/Spanish or article should it be accepted by our
the author(s) must sent one anony- English in keeping with the aims and peer review panel. An electronic
mous copy of the article containing scope of the journal. Contributions for template is available from the
an abstract (max. 150 words) and this section should not exceed 650 journal office, address above.
keywords (max. 6) and attach a words in length. • Abstract of 150 words; this will go
separate sheet with the title of the For all sections: Submissions and on to the Intellect website.
article, name of the author(s), proposals must be sent electronically • Keywords – six words, or
institutional affiliation, abstract, to catalan.journal@urv.cat two-word phrases. There is a
keywords, references of the article, serious reduction in an article’s
biographical note and institutional Style guidelines ability to be searched for if the
address and e-mail. Authors must Illustrations keywords are missing.
avoid any information within the We welcome images illustrating an • References – Intellect requires
article which make it possible to infer article. All images need a resolution the use of Harvard references
their identity (acknowledgements of at least 300 dpi. All images should embedded in the main text in
must be avoided at this stage and be supplied independently of the the following format (Harper
references to their own work must be article, not embedded into the text 1999: 27).
done in the third person). Articles are itself. The files should be clearly • Bibliography – titled ‘References’.
submitted to a blind peer reviewing labelled and an indication given as to
process. Manuscripts are evaluated on where they should be placed in the Notes
the basis of their originality, the text. Reproduction will normally be in Notes may be used for comments and
soundness of their theory and black-and-white. Images sent in as additional information only. In
methodology, the coherence of their e-mail attachments should accord- general, if something is worth saying,
analysis and their ability to commu- ingly be in greyscale. it is worth saying in the text itself. A
nicate to readers (including non- The image should always be note will divert the reader’s attention
specialist readers). accompanied by a suitable caption (the away from your argument. If you
omission of a caption is only acceptable think a note is necessary, make it as
Viewpoint if you feel that the impact of the image brief and to the point as possible. Use
This section will include research Word’s note-making facility, and
would be reduced by the provision of
notes, short commentaries, reflections ensure that your notes are endnotes,
written context). The following is the
on current affairs, cultural and media not footnotes. Place note calls outside
agreed style for captions: Figure 1:
events, short interviews, etc. Experts, the punctuation, so after the comma
Caption here. Please note the colon
leading scholars, experienced or the full stop. The note call must be
after the number and the terminating
professionals and senior researchers in superscripted Arabic (1, 2, 3).
full point, even if the caption is not a
are invited to submit their proposals
full sentence. Copyright clearance
which will be selected also in
should be indicated by the contributor Opinion
accordance with academic criteria
and is always the responsibility of the The views expressed in CJCS are those
and depending on the availability of
contributor. of the authors, and do not necessarily
space. In this section CJCS will, where coincide with those of the Editors or
appropriate, also accept contributions the Editorial or Advisory Boards.
in Catalan, Spanish or French. Language
Contributions for this section should The journal follows standard British
not exceed 3000 words in length. English. Use ‘ize’ endings instead Permissions/Copyright/Liability
of ‘ise’. Copyright clearance should be
Gateway indicated by the contributor and is
The Editors of CJCS will select an Metadata always the responsibility of the
article from those previously A metadata file must accompany all contributor. Unless a specific agree-
published by academic journals for contributions. Authors must check ment has been made, accepted articles
publication in this section. Gateway that each of the following have been become the copyright of the journal.
will give international coverage to the supplied correctly: The copyright clearance form should
best articles written and published • Article Title. be completed and sent to the Editors to
originally in Catalan or Spanish. The • Author Name. accompany every submission.
CJCS_1.1_00_FM_01-04.indd 3 7/23/09 5:18:24 PM

Presentation/House Style music/new media: identify the Films
All articles should be written in director/composer and list alphabeti- Denis, Claire (1987), Chocolat, Paris:
Word. The font should be Times New cally alongside books, journals and Les Films du Paradoxe.
Roman, 12 point. The title of your papers.
article should be in bold at the Please note in particular: Newspaper article
beginning of the file, but not enclosed • ‘Anon.’ for items for which you do Cardús, Salvador (2008),
in quote marks. Bold is also used for not have an author (because all ‘Reinicialitzar la política’, Avui. 22
headings and subheadings (which items must be referenced with an February 2008.
should also be in Times New Roman, author within the text)
12 point) in the article. Italics may be • A blank line is entered between
used (sparingly) to indicate key references Doctoral thesis
concepts. • Year date of publication in Domingo, D. (2005), ‘Inventing
Any matters concerning the brackets online journalism. Development of the
format and presentation of articles • Commas, not full stops, between Internet as a news medium in four
not covered by the above notes parts of each reference Catalan online newsrooms’, Ph.D. the-
should be addressed to the Editor at • Absence of ‘in’ after the title of a sis, Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma
catalan.journal@urv.cat chapter if the reference relates to de Barcelona.
an article in a journal or
Quotations newspaper. Unpublished works
Intellect’s style for quotations • Name of translator of a book Castelló, E. (in press), ‘Dramatizing
embedded into a paragraph is single within brackets after title and proximity. Cultural and social
quote marks, with double quote preceded by ‘trans.’, not ‘transl.’ discourses in soap operas from
marks for a second quotation or ‘translated by’. production to reception’, European
contained within the first. All long • Absence of ‘no.’ for the journal Journal of Cultural Studies. (Accepted
quotations (i.e. over 40 words long) number, a colon between journal for publication 12 May 2009).
should be ‘displayed’– i.e. set into a volume and number.
separate indented paragraph with • ‘pp.’ before page extents. Personal communications
an additional one-line space above Personal communications are what
The following samples indicate
and below, and without quote marks the informant said directly to the
conventions for the most common
at the beginning or end. Please note author, e.g. ‘Pam loved the drums
types of reference:
that for quotations within the text, (personal communication)’. This
the punctuation should follow the needs no citation in the references
bracketed reference. For a displayed Book list. Equally the use of personal
quotation the bracketed reference Hobsbawm, E. J. (1990), Nations and communications need not refer back
appears after the full stop. nationalism since 1780. Programme, to a named informant. However, a
All omissions in a quotation are myth, reality. Cambridge: Cambridge more formal research interview can
indicated thus: [...] Note that there University Press. be cited in the text (Jamieson 12
are no spaces between the suspension August 2004 interview), and in the
points. references list.
Article in a journal
When italics are used for emphasis
Balfour, S. (2008), ‘The concept of
within quotations, please ensure that Website references
historical revisionism: Spain since the
you indicate whether the emphasis is Website references are similar to
1930s’, International Journal of Iberian
from the original text or whether you other references.
Studies, 21: 3, pp. 179–186.
are adding it to make a point. There is no need to decipher any
place of publication or a specific
Referees Article in a book publisher, but the reference must
CJCS is a refereed journal. Strict Mikos, Lothar (2009), ‘How the have an author, and the author must
anonymity is accorded to both pumpkins conquered Germany. be referenced Harvard-style within
authors and referees. Halloween, media and reflexive the text. Unlike paper references,
modernization in Germany’, in M. however, web pages can change, so
Foley and H. O’Donnell (eds), Treat or there needs to be a date of access as
References trick? Halloween in a globalising world.
All references in the text should be well as the full web reference. In the
Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars list of references at the end of your
according to the Harvard system, e.g. Publishing, pp. 113–130.
(Bordwell 1989: 9). The default term article, the item should read some-
used for this list is ‘References’. Please thing like this:
do not group films together under Conference paper
separate a ‘Films cited’ heading. Farré, J. and Gonzalo, J. (2008), ‘A Bondebjerg, K. (2005), ‘Web
Instead, incorporate all films into the complete communicative turn on risk Communication and the Public
main body of references and list them research’, First International Sphere in a European Perspective’,
alphabetically by director. The same Sociological Association Forum, http://www.media.ku.dk. Accessed
rule applies to television programmes/ Barcelona, Spain, 5–8 September. 15 February 2005.
CJCS_1.1_00_FM_01-04.indd 4 7/23/09 5:15:29 PM

Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies Volume 1 Number 1
© 2009 Intellect Ltd
Editorial. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.5/2
Editorial
A journal at the right time
Enric Castelló, Josetxo Cerdán,
Jordi Farré and Hugh O’Donnell
The Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies (CJCS) had its gen-
esis in casual conversations among the members of the Department of
Communication Studies at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona
during the years 2007 and 2008. We were certainly excited about the
idea of publishing a quality academic journal, yet it was difficult to find
answers to questions such as: why should we launch a new journal?
Would this journal meet with any interest in our field? What would it add
to the already existing publications? Would any publisher be interested in
the Catalan cultural field? Among all these uncertainties the only thing
that was quite clear to us was that times had changed: communication
and cultural studies within the Catalan context was now a richer reality
than five years before; the rules of the university system were now demand-
ing higher levels of quality in their evaluation of scholarship; and the need
to internationalize academic output was more pressing than ever. But
how could we bring this project to fruition?
Around that time we received a communication from Intellect looking
for new journal proposals. Without thinking twice, we looked for national
and international alliances, we worked out the focus and scope of the
journal and we began to write up the project. Two decisions were already
taken: it must be a blind peer-reviewed journal following the standard
academic practice regarding the selection of articles for inclusion, and it
must be an English-language publication. The reason for these conditions
was that no other completely blind peer-reviewed journal produced with
the backing of a Catalan academic institution such as Rovira i Virgili
University was available in English in the field of communication and cul-
tural studies.
We submitted the project to Intellect’s 2009 call for journals and, a
few weeks later, we received a positive reply from the publishers. This, in
our view, proves two things: on the one hand, Intellect’s commitment to
seeking out and fostering new ideas and niches in the academic field and,
on the other, of the growing stature and confidence in Catalan culture
and society in the international sphere. We had the feeling that scholar-
ship in the cultural and social disciplines in Catalonia had been too inward
looking for too long, and the time had come to raise our heads and look
around us. But let us explain what CJCS is about, and what are we propos-
ing with the journal.
CJCS 1 (1) pp. 5–7 © Intellect Ltd 2009 5
CJCS_1.1_01_Editorial_05-08.indd 5 8/6/09 7:53:37 AM

Four concepts, already present in its title, define this new publication.
First of all this is an initiative emerging from Catalonia. We are specifically
interested in the Catalan cultural, social and media context, and, as a result
of this, the articles published in the journal deal mainly with this, but not
only with this. We are also looking for original high-quality scholarship com-
ing from other national contexts dealing with topics with a connection to
our cultural and social reality. Thus, the Catalan scope of the journal does
not mean that we are interested only in research and scholarship related
strictly or exclusively to Catalonia, but also with social contexts such as the
stateless national condition, bilingual or multilingual societies, emerging
media and cinema industries, coexistence of cultures, minority language
media, competing discourses of social identity, formal (and informal) cultural
and media policies, migratory and trans-national discourses, and so on.
The second concept is that of Journal itself. We are an academic jour-
nal, blind peer-reviewed for the section entitled ‘Articles’, following the
normal scholarly standards for the selection of pieces – the standards
already in operation in Intellect journals. Our aim is to become an inter-
national platform for scholarship concerning media, culture and society.
As a periodical publication our aim is to publish two issues per year. We
will publish general and thematic issues regularly in the spring and
autumn of each year. Against this background we also aspire to be
included in the international academic journal indexes once the journal is
up and running.
The third and fourth concepts relate to the fields in which the publica-
tion will operate: Communication and Cultural Studies. It was an important
decision not to limit our scope to the communication field but also to open
it up to encompass a cultural perspective. This implies having one foot in
the sociological field and another in the humanities and cultural one. It
also means that the pieces published in the journal will come from both
social science and humanities approaches. We see CJCS as a point where
different roads meet. If communication studies has always been known as
a trans-disciplinary meeting point – bringing together sociology and his-
tory, anthropology, arts and law, and so on – since its development in the
eighties the field of cultural studies has also grown exponentially. We
believe that our cross-disciplinary approach is a source of intellectual
enrichment rather than a problem, but we are also aware that it requires
an open-minded view of academic production. We take the view that
communication studies, media and journalism studies, television and cin-
ema studies, cultural studies, media discourse analysis, public relations
research and other related disciplines share many approaches, at least in
sociology and the humanities: our field is about social and human com-
munication in cultural, political and economic contexts.
We believe that this project addresses what is a flourishing field in the
Catalan context. Twenty years ago there was only one university in
Catalonia offering communication studies – still in a very embryonic state.
Today, seventeen universities in the Catalan linguistic area offer degrees
in the fields of journalism, television, radio, film, advertising, public rela-
tions and cultural studies. Departments of Catalan, not just in Catalonia,
are now focusing on broader objects of study that also embrace these
fields. Increasingly research on these topics is coming from universities
6 Editorial

around the world teaching Catalan and Spanish media and culture, and also
from departments of media and communication studies, sociology, anthro-
pology, social psychology, language and culture, and so on.
It is of course its contributors and readers who will finally define what
CJCS is about. We want to thank all the authors for submitting their arti-
cles and reviews, and also the members of the Editorial and Advisory
Boards who leant the initiative their support. Having now produced this
first issue, our general impression is of a vibrant and dynamic field. We are
receiving articles not only from Catalan universities and research insti-
tutes but also from abroad. This response confirms our belief that CJCS is a
journal launched at the right time, with the aim of becoming a truly inter-
national arena and aspiring to be the main point of academic reference in
the Catalan media and cultural studies fields.
Editorial 7

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Introduction. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.9/7
Introduction
Cultural and communications policy
and the stateless nation1
Philip Schlesinger
It is indeed an honour and a great pleasure to be asked to write the intro- 1. This introduction
ductory words for the Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies. draws on ‘The Politics
of Cultural Policy’,
My relationship with Catalonia dates from the late 1980s when together my inaugural lecture
with my then colleagues at the University of Stirling, I engaged in two at the University of
years of acciones integradas with colleagues at the Universitat Autònoma de Glasgow, delivered on
25 March 2009.
Barcelona. From Scotland, the obvious point of comparison with Catalonia
was the common condition of the ‘stateless nation’, a term that while it
suggests a teleological lack also entails the recognition of a special status,
a distinctive socio-cultural space and often a specific institutional complex.
Two decades ago, we were interested in exploring the highways and by-
ways of media and culture in two national societies each of which enjoyed
considerable autonomy within a larger state. We raised many questions in
the course of some intensive and probing discussions. Perhaps one that we
did not consider explicitly enough was our own role as academic analysts
and in some cases, protagonists, intervening (or attempting to intervene)
in questions of policy and public debate.
In these introductory remarks to CJCS, therefore, I wish to make good
an omission and raise some questions about the roles of academics as
intellectuals sometimes involved in the fields of cultural and communica-
tions policy formation. I hope that in various ways this is a theme that the
journal will stimulate and air. The policy that concerns CJCS’s readership
is made at the intersection between culture and politics. It brings into rela-
tion diverse ways of life and models of cultural production with the institu-
tionalised form of the state. That is because in most practical respects, the
politics of cultural policy still plays itself out within the political systems
and the national public spheres of states.
While the state can be a useful analytical framework, it has its limi-
tations. It is limited not only because the idea of cultural and communi-
cations sovereignty is challenged by global flows and transnational
systems of governance but also because so-called nation-states com-
monly contain multiethnic and multicultural societies. States – as all
students and citizens of stateless nations know – do not necessarily
coincide with their component nations. And multilevel government
coupled with multinationality, multiethnicity and multicultures adds to
the complexity of how we must conceive of the shaping of cultural and
communications policy.
CJCS 1 (1) pp. 9–14 © Philip Schlesinger 2009 9
CJCS_1.1_02_art_Schlesinger_09-14.indd 9 7/22/09 10:00:57 PM

If states orientate themselves to the extra-territorial demands that
shape their policies today, they also cannot avoid addressing their own
internal cultural diversity – unless they seek to ignore or repress it. Cultural
policy broadly understood is moulded by the tensions between profit and
aesthetic value, by the shifting boundaries between the private and the
public, by the vagaries of social and cultural inclusion and exclusion, and
so forth. It is consequently – and properly – a key playground for intellec-
tuals amongst whom we should and do include academics.
In this connection, Zygmunt Bauman (1992) has argued that modern
intellectuals arose with the emergence of culture itself, culture being
conceived as an autonomous space for action. Bauman has described intel-
lectuals as a key expert stratum that developed with the Enlightenment.
Their initial role, he argues, was that of ‘legislator’. They articulated the
ideology of a new order impatient of diversity and backwardness and were
in the vanguard of centralising polities and cultures. In post-modernity,
where epistemological certainties have collapsed, Bauman suggests, the role
of intellectuals has shifted from legislator to ‘interpreter’, to a more modest
role of making sense of cultures. They are largely disconnected from power.
For his part, Edward Said (1994) has also tried to describe ‘a specific
public role in society’ for the intellectual. Where Bauman’s argument is
sociological Said’s is normative. The choice for Said is either one of work-
ing inside the power structure or of being powerless. He urges public intel-
lectuals to side with the weak and the dispossessed. His conception of the
intellectual is one of ‘speaking truth to power’. For Said, to speak within a
national discourse is to occupy a kind of prison house that limits our dis-
cursive independence and our horizons. He therefore celebrates the role of
the intellectual as an outsider. To stand outside, he suggests, gives you
both epistemological and moral advantages. Consequently, exile – both
actual and metaphorical – is the only state that fits true intellectual
endeavour. Said, of course, was an exile; and so too is Bauman, although
he has not argued that this condition confers special advantages every-
where and always.
Both Bauman’s and Said’s positions are highly questionable. Bauman’s
valuable insight is that the breakdown of traditional orders turns culture
into a distinct sphere of action. Culture suddenly becomes something to be
managed and it is therefore central to intellectuals’ self-conceptions, because
culture is their living space. But contemporary intellectuals are not all sim-
ply interpreters. There is good empirical evidence that the desire to legislate
for how culture should be shaped and turned to profit remains very power-
ful in our times. Some intellectuals do indeed find ways of acting as legisla-
tors, even if that often means shaping legislation through interpretation. So
the ideological struggle over visions of the cultural order is not at all inno-
cent but has major consequences. That is particularly so where those who
articulate ideological visions are close to the centres of power.
Said has written eloquently on the consolations of outsider-ness.
However, this limiting conception polarises intellectuals into the co-opted
v the free, the clean v the corrupt, the principled opponent v the compliant
bootlicker, the saint v the sinner. Although it is neat, this schema distorts
the actual complexity of how contemporary intellectuals (academics
included) address the world of policy and politics.
10 Philip Schlesinger
CJCS_1.1_02_art_Schlesinger_09-14.indd 10 7/22/09 10:29:30 AM

We may look to yet another exile, the critical theorist Theodor Adorno
(1991: 89) for a more grounded view on the role of expertise in cultural
policy. Analysing what he disparagingly called ‘the culture industry’,
Adorno thought that intellectuals were mostly ‘servile’. He loathed the idea
of an administered culture. And cultural policy is nothing if not adminis-
tered by public authorities. Adorno saw culture as the source of the ‘critical
impulse’. It was the counterpoint to an administered society that had lost
its spontaneity (1991: 100). However, despite the icy grip of administra-
tion, Adorno believed that a critically self-aware cultural policy was feasi-
ble and that expertise could be used ‘for the protection of cultural matters
from the realm of control by the market’ (1991: 112). In short, Adorno
thought experts working within institutions to pursue culturally progres-
sive ends could – in Bauman’s terms – be legislators rather than just inter-
preters. That is precisely what my own research into the formation of
creative economy policy suggests (Schlesinger 2007, 2009). Whether the
ends pursued are necessarily ‘progressive’ or not is quite another matter.
What might entitle intellectuals to intervene in policy debate? Policy-
relevant expertise is established in numerous ways. In academia, it is built
upon research and scholarship, as well as upon the practical experience of
advising and engaging in both public and private arenas. It is a truism
that we need resources to undertake research. So we have to decide where
our funds are going to come from and what are the costs and benefits that
attach to particular sources. In our complex research economy, we may
and do take on a variety of roles simultaneously. What we decide to do at
any time is shaped by the constraints and opportunities we face.
It is a fundamental value for academics to seek the maximum inde-
pendence of thought in order to produce high quality research. But it is
not always possible. The underlying relationship to funding often affects
the independence, framing, pace and scope of what is done. To oversim-
plify: receiving a research council award generally gives you more auton-
omy than working as a consultant with a defined brief and an importunate
client who is a mere mouse’s click away.
In reality, virtually no source of funding is utterly neutral in its impact
on how we think about policy questions. National research councils, foun-
dations, government departments, public bodies, charities and the
European Commission all have their own agendas. How they articulate
their ‘strategic priorities’ will always have effects on what we do and how
we think. So too do universities’ own research strategies.
As academics, we also have to think what it is to be a citizen-researcher.
If we are working in areas of public policy interest, we simply cannot avoid
addressing how we engage as experts in the public sphere, in nations,
states and internationally. We have obligations to disseminate our work
widely. These derive purely from the fact of our having in-depth and
wide-ranging knowledge and the need to communicate this. We have
been socially privileged to accumulate our expertise over time and in an
open society there is a general interest in sharing it as widely as possible.
There are various ways in which we can do this. According to Edward
Said’s exilic ideal we should contribute to the public debate as outsiders.
This view derives from a classic image of the public intellectual as engaged
that dates from the Dreyfus affaire of the 1890s. Of course, public intellectuals
Cultural and communications policy and the stateless nation 11

aren’t always outsiders – far from it, in fact. And outsiders’ careers may
differ enormously over their lifetimes. Some become licensed commentators
with their own slots and spots and are garlanded with honours. Others are
condemned to obscurity, and if they’re really lucky, a posthumous revival.
Even in the mainstream, very few public intellectuals achieve really
significant and sustained access to the airwaves and the newspaper
columns, or enjoy the status of a blogger with influence. As Régis Debray
(1979) pointed out some thirty years ago, the post World War II rise of
celebrity media intellectuals created a star system for the few. The overall
significance of the university as a widespread source of legitimate knowledge
consequently diminished. The growing centrality of popular media has
changed the rules of access to the public sphere and transformed the
nature of a successful performance.
There have been repeated attempts to characterise the changing nature
of expertise and intellectual life in our times. In the late nineteen-seventies,
the sociologist Alvin Gouldner (1979) wrote about the emergence of new
powerful class of symbol-manipulating intellectuals immersed in the ‘cul-
ture of critical discourse’. In very similar vein, at the start of the nough-
ties, the celebrity public policy guru Richard Florida (2002; 2005) hailed
the rise and flight of the creative class, this time to admiring gasps of offi-
cial credulity. Here, at last, was a sellable vision.
Such arguments relate to structural changes in capitalism since World
War II and the emergence of a so-called ‘knowledge economy’. Economic
restructuring has changed how we think about and value expertise.
Gouldner and Florida – like Daniel Bell (1973) before them - have been
part of a tradition of trying to paint new pictures of class and power as
industrial society is left increasingly behind.
While we academics might be flattered to be thought members of a
wider knowledge or creative class let us take pause for thought. If class
power has come our way, I can only observe that – as elsewhere – it is
unevenly distributed. With very few exceptions, it is hard to be heard in
the world of cultural and communications policy formation and harder
still to have effects. That is because the shaping of policy has become both
more competitive and more complex. The multiplication of cultural and
communication management consultancies, the expansion of special
advisers in government, the growth of in-house research teams inside
communications regulators, the development of specialist media and com-
munications business journalism – all of these have recast the space avail-
able to the academy to make its views known and be taken seriously. They
have reshaped the public sphere. And in truth, we academics have often
not helped ourselves by making policy-relevant research into a minority
pursuit.
That said, a range of pertinent interventions is possible. These depend
on your taking a normative view of the academic as a member of a class of
experts with a public role to play in influencing and shaping debates on
matters of public policy. But this is not simply about opposing established
orders everywhere, à la Said. It is more complex. It is engagement gener-
ated by our own cultural practices that lead us, as a matter of course, to
contribute to discussion and deliberation through various forms of public
involvement. Oppositional critique is only one of the available options.

On rare occasions, the professor might become a minister of culture
(or equivalent), as has happened at a Catalan level with Joan Manuel
Tresserras, the current Conseller de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació.
His eventual reflections on his time in politics will make interesting read-
ing. But the majority of openings to influence are much more modest.
Public engagement may and does involve the production and publica-
tion of research. But it can also entail academics joining boards and
commissions, supplying expert advice to governments and agencies,
advising parliamentary committees, making submissions to public
inquiries, contributing commentaries to the media and blogs and so
forth. Because, in practice, the social organisation of policy expertise is
heavily concentrated in elite circles, there is an additional democratic
role in working with, and advising, civil society groups of all kinds. This
extends the limited scope of the so-called policy community and expands
activity in the public sphere.
Such engagement is complex because we each have values and beliefs
and we may be linked to political projects of various kinds. It is a matter of
choice and principle whether we avoid institutional capture by the policy
world of government departments, state agencies and commercial inter-
ests. Because universities give them space, academics are well placed to
make a disinterested contribution to public policy. Disinterest does not
imply a lack of commitment to values and ideals. It concerns whether or
not we seek benefits from our advice and whether or not that is a prime
motivating force.
Nations without states typically have a complex public sphere, and
this has direct implications for the nature of our engagement. Indeed,
rather than a single public sphere, the stateless nation is more likely to
be situated in a dual sphere of publics. Ideal-typically, the nation has its
own cultural institutions and media, and often a language that differs
from the lingua franca of the state. Under non-repressive conditions, if
there is not a separate indigenous system of representative politics, there
is likely to be a distinct administrative apparatus, bound into that of the
wider state. Nationals of stateless nations are therefore routinely exposed
to their own national public sphere, the local, intimate and proximate,
and also that of the wider state itself. This simple dual sphere model suf-
fices to make the point that although there is space for convergence
between the operations of the national and state public spheres, there is
also space for dislocation, divergence, contradiction and dispute about
boundaries, competencies and resources. All of the latter, of course, act-
ing as generators of policy shifts while being meat and drink to the aca-
demic analyst.
In stateless nations, to intervene in the domains of culture and com-
munication is therefore potentially doubly complex. Much depends on
the nature of the autonomy afforded the stateless nation, which is in
any case likely to be chronically renegotiated. There is an obligation to
understand both levels of the polity, to know the lines of domination
and subordination and to understand the scope and limits of interven-
tion by word and deed. These are necessary preliminaries for the
researcher-citizen to be involved in shaping a social world that is also
his or her object of analysis.
Cultural and communications policy and the stateless nation 13

References
Adorno, Theodor (1991), The Culture Industry, London: Routledge.
Bauman, Zygmunt (1992), Intimations of Postmodernity, London and New York:
Routledge.
Bell, Daniel (1973), The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, Harmondsworth: Penguin
Books.
Debray, Régis (1979), Le Pouvoir Intellectuel, Paris: Ramsay.
Florida, Richard (2002), The Rise of the Creative Class, New York: Basic Books.
Florida, Richard (2005), The Flight of the Creative Class, New York: HarperCollins.
Gouldner, Alvin (1979), The Future of Intellectuals and the Rise of the New Class,
London: MacMillan.
Said, Edward (1994), Representations of the Intellectual, London: Vintage.
Schlesinger, Philip (2007), ‘Creativity: from discourse to doctrine’, Screen, 48: 3,
pp. 377–387.
Schlesinger, Philip (2009), ‘Creativity and the experts: New Labour, think tanks
and the policy process’, International Journal of Press/Politics, 14: 3, pp. 3–20.
Suggested citation
Schlesinger, P. (2009), ‘Cultural and communications policy and the stateless
nation’, Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 1: 1, pp. 9–14,
doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.9/7
Contributor details
Philip Schlesinger is Professor in Cultural Policy and Academic Director of the
Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow. He is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland’s national academy of sciences and letters)
and currently chairs the Advisory Committee for Scotland of Ofcom (the UK’s com-
munications regulator). His most recent book (co-edited with John Erik Fossum) is
The European Union and the Public Sphere (London and New York: Routledge, 2007).
He is currently working on a study of creative economy policy-making and on
ethnography and exile.
Contact: Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow, 9 University
Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK.
E-mail: p.schlesinger@ccpr.arts.gla.ac.uk
CJCS_1.1_02_art_Schlesinger_09-14.indd 14 8/6/09 9:11:50 PM

Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.15/1
Does communication studies have an

identity? Setting the bases for
contemporary research
Leonarda García Jiménez University of Colorado at Boulder
Susana Martínez Guillem University of Colorado at Boulder
Abstract Keywords
This article is a reflection on the identity of communication research, motivated epistemology
by what we perceive as an important need for consolidating our field of study. It ontology
therefore takes the form of a self-inquiry into the nature of communication research. communication
Whereas the field of communication has expanded and consolidated, its identity con- studies
tinues to be problematic. At this moment, communication studies is defined as a field paradigm
rather than as a science; we would argue, however, that we have enough features cognition
to be something more than a field. This is the central argument of this article: com- culture
munication research is more than a field but less than a science. Why are we more
than a field? Why aren’t we a real science? What exactly are the meanings of science
and field? We will first consider the importance of the identity issue; second, we will
list the main features of communication research in order to justify our identity as
something other than a field. Finally, we will propose a multidisciplinary theoretical
base for performing communication research in our contemporary period.
Introduction: relevant questions on disciplines, identity and

communication studies
In a recent reflection on the state-of-the-art in communication, Donsbach
(2006: 437) stated that ‘communication research has experienced the
greatest growth of probably all academic fields over the last 30 years’. The
increasing importance of the mass media and of communicative phenom-
ena in general has made this one of the most important fields in the social
sciences. This is certainly not surprising, since we live in information soci-
eties and, for this reason, it has become imperative to understand the
world and human beings in a communicative way. In this sense, an
important practical function is served by communication studies: commu-
nication is everywhere and we need to be there to study it. This issue is
summarized by Dewey (quoted in Carey 2007: 42) as described below.
Communication is wonderful because it is the basis of human fellowship;

it produces social bonds, bogus or not, that tie humans together and make
coexistence possible. Society is possible because of the binding forces of
shared information circulating in an organic system.
CJCS_1.1_03_art_Garcia&Martinez_15-28.indd 15 7/22/09 10:58:18 AM

Communication studies, therefore, can be the key for analyzing our
contemporary world; however, ‘the nature of the discipline often remains
unclear, while its identity is typically determined by administrative con-
venience’ (Nordenstreng 2007: 211). In this article, we will attempt to
contribute to the definition of our field’s identity. Our first argument is
that communication is more than a field. In order to justify this claim, we
will list the main features of communication research. We will secondly
propose a multidisciplinary theoretical base for doing communication
research in our contemporary period that accounts for both the consist-
ency needed to define ourselves and the diversity that characterizes and
gives strength to our studies.
But what exactly is the difference between field and discipline? When
Nordenstreng (2007) asks whether communication is a discipline or field,
what does he mean exactly? A field is just a meeting point for different
theories and traditions defining and studying communication (Craig
1999). But being a discipline implies something more. Disciplines are dif-
ferent points of view about the world and human beings; a discipline is not
only a meeting point, it is a perspective on life.
Disciplines are defined not by cores of knowledge (epistemologies) but by

views of being (ontologies). Disciplinary status for a field rests on the onto-
logical status of that field’s idea – disciplines represent various foundational
ideas […] Doctrines provide disciples with foundations for beliefs and action,
but those foundations are views of being more than cores of knowledge.
(Shepherd 1993: 83)
This approach to the concept of discipline can help us address Nordenstreng’s

foundational question: discipline or field? As Shepherd (1993: 84) argues,
‘academic disciplines, in this view, are distinguished not by the parcels of
existence that they study, but by the views of existence they afford’. For this
reason, one of the first steps in the construction of a discipline is the exist-
ence of the field (epistemology). When there is an object of study, there may
be several disciplines that are interested in this object; a field is a meeting
point for researching a concrete aspect about the world or human beings.
In fact, during the first decades of the history of our field, communication
was studied from different points of view, but there was no intention to cre-
ate unified knowledge; each social science studied mass communication as
a means for solving specific problems (the process of communication was
divided according to Laswell’s well-known formula: who (says) what (to)
whom (in) what channel (with) what effect) or for criticizing the culture
industry (Saperas 1998: 96). But what constitutes a discipline is not only
an object of study, or even the capacity of the theories within it to generate
knowledge. What gives both the object of study and theories their discipli-
nary character is a particular ontology, that is, a common point of view for
analyzing the world. In general, objects of study are shared, because differ-
ent disciplines look at objects of study from different perspectives.
Fields and disciplines shape science, which is not just made up of empir-
ical knowledge in a positivist way. ‘Science is a representation of the world,
not the only one, in that the logic coherence is the most important feature,
logic coherence that aspires to a complete coherence’ (Omnes 2000: 274).
16 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

This coherence is constantly questioning itself in regard to revealing inco-
herence and suffers important transformations in scientific revolutions
(Omnes 2000: 280–281). Thus, scientific knowledge has its origin in the
ordinary knowledge that is transcended by science. For all of these reasons,
scientific knowledge is integrated by natural and social sciences, but by
humanities as well. Furthermore, science is ultimately, but not merely,
constructed by intellectual communities made up of individuals in perma-
nent interaction – the importance, hence, of agreements, of dialogue, of
interchange in our area. An idealistic view of science usually overlooks the
fact that human beings are the very people that make science possible
(Rodrigo and Garcia, unpublished).
We see communication research as more than a field and as a young
discipline, integrated by several levels of analysis – interpersonal, group,
organizational, mediatic and cultural (Garcia 2007) – which can be stud-
ied from several traditions – rhetorical, semiotic, cybernetic, phenomeno-
logical, sociocultural, sociopsychological and critical (Craig 1999)–. The
ontological data is communication, and that is why communication is
not only an object of study but also a point of view. ‘Communication is a
discipline to the extent that it presents a relatively organized way of
attending to the world that explains how things come to be the way that
they are’ (Deetz 1994: 567). This perspective is not new but, as Deetz
(1994: 568) has noted, ‘disciplines arise when existing modes of explana-
tion fail to provide compelling guidance for responses to a central set of
new social issues’.
Our goal in this article is to address these questions. For this reason,
we make two fundamental contributions to the general context of the
field. On the one hand, we propose a reflection on our identity following
Nordenstreng (in press), who makes a ‘strong claim for the philosophy
of science in order to deal with the concept of communication and its
relation to the system of sciences’. On the other hand, we develop some
notes about the theoretical basis on which to analyze the world from
communicology while emphasizing a cultural and cognitive point of
view. We have organized our argument in the following way: firstly, we
justify why it is necessary to define the identity of the field; secondly, we
define this identity, arguing that communication studies, more than a
field, is a young discipline because it offers a communicational perspec-
tive. Finally, we propose a multidisciplinary basis for analyzing the
world and human beings, centered around social cognition, discourse
and culture.
Defining our own identity

The goal of our philosophical reflection is to contribute to the consolida-
tion of an identity for communication research, because even nowadays
this is not clear in the general context of our field of study. As we have
pointed out in the introduction, because of this situation, several research-
ers (Nordenstreng 2007; Donsbach 2006) have claimed the need to define
our identity. This is the first contribution of this article: an approach to
our own identity. We believe that this is a necessary first step in the legiti-
mization of the studies in our universities and, consequently, in the
increase of our contributions to scholarly inquiry.
Does communication studies have an identity? 17

Nordenstreng (2007) shows similar preoccupations when he indicates
that it is necessary to do soul searching in communication research, invit-
ing us to do reflexive research:
The nature of the discipline often remains unclear, while its identity is typi-
cally determined by administrative convenience and market demand rather
than analysis of its historical development and scholarly position within the
system of arts and sciences.
(Nordenstreng 2007: 211)
He calls for serious soul-searching and critical examination of the identity

of the field: ‘It’s high time to return to the crossroads question discussed by
Bernard Berelson, Wilbur Schramm and others in the late 1950s: Is mass
communication research really a discipline or just a field?’ (Nordenstreng
2007: 212)
Maybe the question is: why do we have to define our own identity? For
Donsbach (2006: 442) the answer to this question is very clear. According
to him, the identity or coherence of the field is important for extrinsic and
intrinsic reasons:
Extrinsically, it is important to justify the existence and growth of our field

to deans and provosts when we negotiate resources. Communication con-
stantly struggles within universities everywhere to claim an independent
administrative status. Our departments often compete with sociology, politi-
cal science, or linguistics departments to maintain a distinct identity and
to sustain a unit that provides a disciplinary home for scholars trained in
communication. Intrinsically, coherence and identity is important for the
function of science, which is the accumulation of accepted knowledge. This
accumulation can only be achieved through communication within any
given discipline: communication about the results and negotiation (and
finally decision) about the acceptance of hypotheses and theories. This
needs one platform, commonly accepted and read journals, associations
and conferences.
(Donsbach 2006: 442–443)
Kuhn already addressed these questions when he claimed that scientific

knowledge is cumulative during the periods of normal science, when new
generalizations and new theories are added to consolidated scientific
knowledge (Kuhn 1989: 86). For this reason we need common platforms
on which to place our contributions during periods of normal science.
However, whereas Donsbach points out the need for defining identity, he
fails to do so himself. Therefore, although we still need to define and con-
solidate our identity, the question remains: who are we? And what is
communication research? We would argue that at this moment we are
more than a field, but less than a science. In the next section we will
argue why we think this is so.
Communication research: more than a field

Here we will indicate the features of science in order to show how they are
present in our field. Our main argument is that, although some of our

characteristics allow us to be more than a field, we still are less than a sci-
ence, since we lack another set of features that are necessary to be consid-
ered as a consolidated discipline.
Our hypothesis, therefore, is that communication research is more
than a field because of the following three characteristics: object of study;
communicational perspective and critical mass.
Object of study
This is probably the first step in terms of being able to talk about a science.
We need to have something to research, and we know that our object is
communication. And not only mass communication – even though it is
one of the most important objects – but also interpersonal, group, organiza-
tional and cultural communication, the most generic level of study (com-
munication and society, communication and culture) (Garcia 2007: 44).
In this sense, the classical levels of analysis are a very useful way for defin-
ing our object of study. However, the definition of communication some-
times differs depending on the perspective. Thus, the sociopsychological
tradition focuses on the social influence aspect (Craig and Muller 2007:
313), whereas the cybernetic tradition conceives communication as a con-
trol process (Aguirre 2008: 481). On the other hand, the critical approach
exposes ‘hidden social mechanisms that distort communication and sup-
ports political efforts to resist the power of those mechanisms’ (Craig and
Muller 2007: 425), and the sociocultural approach points out that social
life is a symbolic construction built through communication. Be that as it
may, an important and common link is that communication is an interac-
tive process that has several levels (from interpersonal to cultural), which
can be analyzed from several points of view – rhetorical, semiotic, cyber-
netic, phenomenological, sociocultural, sociopsychological or critical
(Craig 1999) –.
Communicational perspective
According to Shepherd (1993: 83) ‘disciplines are defined not by cores of
knowledge (i.e., epistemologies) but by views of Being (i.e., ontologies)’.
The object of study, therefore, is an important step for building a disci-
pline; however, the difference between disciplines is not in the object but
in the point of view, in the perspective, in the ontology. This is the science
of the most abstract predicates; it is the most general way for understand-
ing the world (Ferrater 1994: 2622–2624).
Academic disciplines, in this view, are distinguished not by the parcels

of existence that they study, but by the views of existence they afford.
Anthropology, art, biology, chemistry, economics, history, philosophy [...]
each offers a particular view of being.
(Shepherd 1993: 84)
In the introduction to his best-known book, Being and Time, Heidegger

pointed out that ontology – the view of being – is the pre-scientific subdivi-
sion of knowledge. He attempted to explain the essence of being, with
ontology as preliminary understanding and a priori substantiation

(Heidegger 2003: 32). That is the ontological question: what is the essence
of being? For the communication field it is communication:
Communication, from a communicational perspective, is not a secondary

phenomenon that can be explained by antecedent psychological, sociological,
cultural or economic factors; rather, communication itself is the primary, con-
stitutive social process that explains all these other factors.
(Craig 1999: 126)
Thus, communication science may exist because the communicational

perspective exists, and this is, therefore, another point of view for analyz-
ing human beings and society. The ontology of communicology – that is,
communication as ontological information – means that the world and
human beings, in their essence, are communication: the world does not
exist until it is communicated. The human being is, in essence, communi-
cation. Even the essence of the world is, for us, communication. In order
to address Heiddeger’s question, we believe that it is necessary to discuss a
specific philosophical area: the philosophy of dialogue. There is a big theo-
retical distance between, on the one hand, Heiddeger, and on the other,
Buber, Levinas or Mounier. Heiddegger’s thinking has a complex philo-
sophical foundation, whereas Buber, Levinas and Mounier are very basic
and straightforward authors. Nonetheless, we believe that communicol-
ogy thinking can answer Heidegger’s question through the philosophy of
dialogue. This point of view and this communicational perspective, there-
fore, can be checked with the philosophy of dialogue (Garcia 2008).
We propose dialogue philosophies as the ontological base of communi-
cation science, because the definitional feature of the human being is com-
munication. In order to assess the ontological keys of Buber, Mounier and
Levinas’ thinking, let us examine these authors one by one.
Buber (1998: 11) points out that we have two possible relationships
with the world: the relationship ‘I-Thou’ and the relationship ‘I-It’. But
the real relationship, the relationship I-Thou, is the one we find in com-
munication. Buber notes that ‘I do not exist without You’, so, the real
relationship between I and You is a dialogical relationship (Buber 1998:
15). The other relationship, I-It, is a materialist and superficial relation-
ship, so for this reason, the original word is I-Thou and the original word
is the dialogical relationship, that is, the real encounter with the other.
I-Thou, the first relationship, is founded in communication, whereas the
second relationship, I-It, is founded in appearance and in objectification
(Buber 1998: 26). Buber indicates that the essence of the human being is
the encounter with the other. For him the individual human being has
not got essence; the individual human being, without the other, is very
near to objectification and to dehumanization. The real I does not exist
without You, and that relationship between I and You is a communicative
relationship – a dialogical relationship. I do not exist without You and, for
this I-Thou to be possible, we need communication. Only with communi-
cation, with the encounter with the other and with the dialogical relation-
ship, can I and You exist (Buber 1998: 15). The real person, the real I,
appears with communication. Buber says that the first basic word, the
origin, is the word I-Thou. In this way, the origin is communication, the

relationship. Objectification is the next step, but the first step is communi-
cation, in such a way that the human being is dialogical, is communica-
tion (Buber 1998: 23). And the real world is I-Thou; the world exists
because of the dialogical relationship, because of communication.
Mounier (1968: 19) argues that the fundamental experience of the
human being is communication, which is the primitive fact, the primi-
tive event. The human being is founded in several original acts that can
be resumed in only one: the communicative action (Mounier 1968: 21).
In general, Mounier and Buber both argue for the communicative ori-
gin of the human being; they declare that communication is the realiza-
tion of human being and that communicative interaction is the source
of real life.
Levinas (2001: 250), in turn, discusses responsibility towards the
other, towards otherness. That point of view is the core of the ethics of
communication.
To sum up, with the philosophies of the dialogue, human beings are
defined in terms of their ability to communicate in a dialogical relation-
ship and in the encounter with the other. For this reason, we say that
communication is ontological data. Thus, communication is an object of
study but a point of view as well. Our field studies communication in a
communicational way, and therefore it organizes thinking, society and
human beings according to communication. Communication is not some-
thing extrinsic to the human being, nor the result of a specific action, but
is something intrinsic – it is the essence of the human being.
Buber, Levinas and Mounier’s philosophies are appropriate ways for
defining our ontology – the communicational perspective. The communi-
cological ontology exists and can be stated very simply: communication is
the most important thing in the world, and it is the origin of the world.
Critical mass
A critical mass is integrated by researchers who analyze the world and
human beings with a communicational perspective – researchers who
develop most of their contributions inside the academic world of commu-
nication (faculties, research groups, associations, journals, etc.). Within
our field, there exists a very important critical mass with a communica-
tional perspective. This is not anecdotal, moreover, because science exists
for the critical mass. Sometimes a brilliant mind appears, but usually or
most of the time science advances with normal people and with a critical
mass. Thus, the third characteristic of communication research is the faith
of the disciples: the people who are educated in the communication field.
What are we lacking?

For all of the above arguments, communication is more than a field, more
than a meeting point and a focal point, because it constitutes another point
of view and it possesses an important critical mass. But is it a science –
interdisciplinary, but nevertheless a science?
We must acknowledge that we do not think communication is a sci-
ence: we need more faith in our field, a better understanding of our per-
spective, more methodological training, more theories, more reflections
about the definition of our identity and more results for making a better

world. In this sense, the discipline must respond to new social, economic
and psychological changes.
Moreover, a radical change in mindset is required, at least in Europe
in terms of placing research as the first function of university faculties,
overcoming orientation as a ‘professional school’ and developing and
configuring the academic field of research. Other needs are the design of
scientific policies and greater integration of the field. In short, it is neces-
sary to improve demand and require public authorities to provide sus-
tainable scientific policies in order to project the contribution of
communication sciences to the knowledge society. For communication
studies to be a real science, it would also be necessary to promote research
programmes (in the sense described by Lakatos) on relevant topics, so as
to prevent researchers from going from one theme to another without
real criteria (something that does not happen in other scientific disci-
plines); this would avoid what Nordenstreng has called the ‘surfing syn-
drome’ (Rodrigo and Garcia, unpublished).
Finally, it is necessary to clarify a paradigm for our studies. What could
be a possible paradigm for communication research? We will develop some
notes to clarify the bases for contemporary research in the next section.
A proposal for a working paradigm

As we have seen, research within the discipline of communication studies
has a distinctive and common object of study. But how do we explore this?
What makes a communicative perspective? This is the second contribu-
tion of this article: for us, the answer to this question lies in the integra-
tion of cognitive, discursive and social aspects of the different phenomena
that we study. Research in our field has developed from viewing commu-
nication as transmission to viewing it as social and symbolic construction:
in other words, switching from the transmission view to the ritual view
(Carey 2007). This development implies approaching phenomenon with a
cultural and cognitive dimension: going back and forth between cognition
to society through communication. We would argue that the whole field
of communication studies could benefit from a multidisciplinary frame-
work emphasizing the interplay between cognition, discourse and society
if our goal is to ask fundamental questions and provide the thorough
answers that our contemporary societies need. Although it is difficult and,
in our opinion, unproductive to establish fixed boundaries to each
approach, we will still be making these distinctions, which should be inter-
preted as an imperfect way of facilitating understanding and discussion of
the different perspectives. For this reason, we propose two intersecting pil-
lars as the bases of communication research: firstly, constructivism (cog-
nition), and secondly, ethnography (culture).
Firstly, we would argue that an understanding of our cognitive mecha-
nisms is the first necessary step towards a comprehensive approach to dis-
course production and comprehension, which, in our opinion, should be
at the core of any communicative analysis. Only by first paying attention
to the cognitive structures that allow us to interpret and produce mean-
ings will we be able to fully understand and embrace the complexities of
communicative practices, leaving us then in a position to dream of accept-
ance and exploration of difference as an unquestionable part of our

research (Deetz, in press). However, instead of focusing on outdated con-
cepts of traditional psychology, we believe that more recent interdiscipli-
nary proposals, such as cognitive linguistic approaches, can constitute a
valuable starting point for our scholars to step out of a prejudiced under-
standing of cognition as separate from a discursive and cultural approach
to communication. As Lakoff (quoted in Dascal 1985: 89) points out,
‘communication matters most when […] we do not share the same cul-
tural assumptions, relevant knowledge, and relevant experience, and espe-
cially where our conceptual metaphors and folk theories differ’. A cognitive
starting point in our analyses, therefore, is needed for the problematiza-
tion of all kinds of communicative practices in which the diverse nature of
the participants’ cognitive models may lead to different types of challenges.
As Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 231) put it, ‘when people who are talking
don’t share the same culture, knowledge, values and assumptions, mutual
understanding can be especially difficult’.
The potentialities of a cognitive-linguistic understanding of communi-
cation included in our analyses, however, are enormous and are only
presently beginning to be explored. The concept of metaphor, for example,
has been successfully applied to discourses about biotechnology (Holmgreen
2008), to marginalized communities (Adelman and Frey 1997) and to
persuasion (Sopory 2006), although there are many other prospective
applications. Apart from these rare discussions of metaphors, relevant
cognitive phenomena developed at length within cognitive linguistics
remain unknown or unexplored by communication scholars. In a similar
line of argument, Van Gorp (2007) has recently proposed the need for
integrating constructivism and functionalism; his article entitled ‘The con-
structionist approach to framing: bringing culture back in’, is a clear
example of multi-paradigm. Here the author theorizes about the specific
theory of framing (in the sense of shaping) and points out the following:
Framing as a bridging concept between cognition and culture […]. The effort
is to argue how frames, as part of culture, get embedded in media content,
how they work, and how they interact with the mental schemata of both the
journalist and the audience member.
(Van Gorp 2007: 61)
Mental spaces, metonymy, conceptual blending or figure/ground effects

could be useful concepts in a comprehensive approach to communication
that highlights the interdependency of cognition, discourse and society
without over-emphasizing any one of these elements in isolation.
Communication scholars, we would argue, are in a privileged position to
broaden the focus on linguistic structure and incorporate other types of
discourse, and then to explore this interdependency by systematically
incorporating the social dimensions of cognition into our theoretical and
practical framework. This is a necessary move for communication schol-
ars in their efforts to take seriously the linguistic turn (Deetz, in press)
without overlooking the cognitive aspects of discourse.
The cognitive approach can be at the core of the symbolic construc-
tion of social life; thus, in order to understand how the meanings inside
society are built through communicative interactions, it is very useful to

explore the cognitive dimension that we are summarizing here. In this
sense, it is possible that constructivism and the sociocultural tradition in
a general sense are at the basis of communication studies. Because com-
munication is understanding (Martin Algarra 2003), a sociocultural per-
spective is an interesting way to explore it, as, in this tradition:
‘Communication is a process essentially involved with concepts such as
social structures, identities, norms, rituals, and collective belief systems’
(Craig and Muller 2007: 365). With this point of view in mind, we can
explore our object of study from micropsychological theories (cognitive)
to macrosocial ones (constructivism), bearing in mind the natural sym-
bolic dimension of human life.
As we have just pointed out, the social dimensions of communication
cannot be excluded from a communicative perspective. We believe that
linguistic and cognitive approaches within the anthropological tradition
constitute possible resources in the development of comprehensive analy-
ses of communicative practices. In fact, it is in linguistic and cognitive
anthropology where authors have most insistently emphasized the need to
take into account the social dimension of mental structures.
Holland and Quinn (1987) point out that our knowledge does not
come from firsthand, personal experiences alone, but is mostly communi-
cated to us by the people we know. It would be useful, therefore, to explain
how specific sets of goals or expectations come to being, rather than take
for granted that these exist. Problematizing how different themes are (re)
created and transmitted to organize our goals could be the task of com-
munication scholars when explaining, for example, why a particular text
or situation is perceived as funny, appropriate or expected in one context
or culture but as offensive, inappropriate or unexpected in another.
Different groups of people will have different expectations and goals associ-
ated with the same concept, and this should be taken into account in com-
municative analyses across different areas. A communicative analysis that
wants to emphasize the importance of shared meanings, whether of politi-
cal discourse, close relationships, television shows or organizational meet-
ings, needs to consider how different expectations influence specific
communication practices.
Researchers in the ethnography of communication and interactional
sociolinguistics have also tried to link language and culture by emphasiz-
ing the social character of knowledge (Gumperz 1971; 1982; Gumperz
and Hymes 1986). These authors recover the understanding of language
as ‘doing’, thus emphasizing the connection between language and con-
text already established by Malinowski (1944). Both linguistic and cogni-
tive anthropology can help us to take into account the existence of
cultural background knowledge as a result of socialization. According to
Gumperz (1982: 207), ‘knowledge of the world and socio-cultural pre-
suppositions must not be regarded as merely adding additional subtleties
to or clarifying what we learn from the propositional content of utter-
ances’. However, this approach to language is a purely interactional one
that ‘focuses on the exchange between speakers, i.e., how a speaker by
his choice of topic and his choice of linguistic variables adapts to other
participants or to his environment and how others in turn react to him’
(Gumperz and Hymes 1986: 17). In contrast, for cognitive anthropologists

the emphasis is on how our cultural background knowledge manifests
itself in mental conceptual maps. Gumperz (1982: 156) also offers a use-
ful distinction between two different (although not incompatible) tradi-
tions in what he sees as the study of ‘the relationship of extralinguistic,
sociocultural knowledge to grammar’. On the one hand, there is ‘the
anthropological tradition of the ethnography of communication, which
can help us analyse “natural” conversation’. On the other hand, the same
author argues that ‘there is discourse analysis, derived from speech act
theory, linguistic pragmatics, frame semantics [...] and artificial intelli-
gence’ (Gumperz 1982: 154).
According to Gumperz (1982: 156), the first tradition ‘aims to show
how social norms affect the use and distribution of communicative
resources, whereas the second one focuses on interpretation and the cog-
nitive functioning of contextual and other knowledges’. We see these two
traditions as crucial to the building of a multidisciplinary basis for com-
munication theory and practice.
To sum up, we would like to point out that the development of a coher-
ent socio-cognitive approach to discourse production and understanding,
together with the consolidation of communication studies as a discipline,
is the main challenge facing us at the beginning of the twenty-first cen-
tury. What we are seeing nowadays is the beginning of a productive inte-
gration of several perspectives (Koller 2005; Zinken 2003) that should be
fostered in order to explore, on the one hand, communicative practices in
the situations in which they occur and, on the other hand, the underlying
cognitive structures which shape our interactions, our behaviours and,
ultimately, our understanding of the world.
Conclusion
The main purpose of this article has been twofold. First, we have argued
for the need for communication studies to consolidate its status as a well-
established discipline, for purely administrative as well as more funda-
mental reasons. We have shown how we can begin to argue that we are
more than a field by emphasizing our unique communicational perspec-
tive in our object of study, and in the existence of a critical mass that
reproduces and expands this perspective. We have argued that these ele-
ments are the necessary components of any science and, in the case of
communication studies, they are already in place. However, they need to
be further developed and strengthened in order for communication to be
regarded as a science. We think that the interdisciplinary identity of com-
munication studies has both a social scientific and humanistic base. In
this sense, we need higher epistemological and ontological education in
order to consolidate this identity. Second, we have advanced a multidisci-
plinary basis for research that can capture the complexity of our object of
study by integrating cognition, communication and culture as essential
and interrelated elements of communicative phenomena. Now it is the
turn for communication scholars to embrace these in comprehensive the-
ories and analyses. This interdisciplinary framework can open up new
and exciting possibilities for the conceptualization of discourse, culture
and cognition and, ultimately, for the understanding of human experi-
ences in a communicational way.

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Contributor details
Leonarda García Jiménez is a visiting scholar at the University of Colorado at
Boulder (USA) with a post-doctoral scholarship from Seneca Foundation (Regional
Agency of Science and Technology, Murcia, Spain). She has produced more than
forty works (articles, books, book chapters and conference papers), and has taught
courses and seminars on communication theory in Spain and Mexico.
Contact: C. Villa leal, n 3, 5 dcha. Cp. 30001. Murcia. Spain.
E-mail: leonardagj@hotmail.com
Susana Martínez Guillem holds an MA in communication from the University

of Iowa, USA (2003) and is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of
Colorado at Boulder (USA). Her main research interests explore the intersections
between discourse studies and rhetorical criticism, with an emphasis on critical
approaches within these traditions. Her latest research dealing with these matters
is scheduled for publication in Discourse & Society in autumn 2009.
Contact: University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Communication, 270
UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
E-mail: susana.martinez-guillem@colorado.edu

Catalan Journal of
Communication and Cultural Studies
Volume 2, Special Issue Call for Papers
The Communicative Turn in Risk

Communication Theory and Practice
Guest editors
Tom Horlick-Jones (Cardiff University)

Jordi Farré (Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona)
In recent years a technical discourse of risk has Catalonia, as a European industrial region with
assumed the status of a universal basis for governance petrochemical and nuclear complexes, has a strategic
and administrative practice in both private and interest in promoting research into risk communication
public sector organisations within Europe, the United processes. The Catalan Journal of Communication
States and elsewhere. This re-framing of pre-existing and Cultural Studies welcomes proposals for
organisational concerns in terms of risk categories contributions to this special issue that address this
reflects an underlying bureaucratic concern with central theme. Papers might be grounded in empirical
the accountable, controllable and cost-effective studies of specific risk communication processes;
management of contingency (Horlick-Jones, Power, Renn make linkages between communication theory and
etc.). During this period, the use of risk communication risk theory; or perhaps offer some combination of all
as a regulatory and policy tool has become increasingly of these. Other possible perspectives might include
important as a part of institutional attempts to inform the relationship between risk communication and
and influence the behaviour of target audiences. risk management practices; the double hermeneutic
Research into formal risk communication has now (Giddens) linking formal risk communication and the
developed from a concern with the top-down provision everyday mundane risk practices of organisational or
of factual materials to a focus on a range of more lay actors; and the notion of engagement as a process
diverse activities, with a trend toward various sorts of of ‘co-generative theorising’ (Deetz).
stakeholder engagement (e.g. Fischhoff).
The journal plans to include papers of around 6–7,000
Proceeding by analogy with the celebrated linguistic words, and short research notes and reports of around
(or hermeneutic) ‘turn’ in the social sciences (e.g. 2–3,000 words. Abstracts (of no more than 500 words)
Barthes, Rorty etc.), in which language use came to be for proposed contributions should be sent to catalan.
seen as at least in part constitutive of the objects of journal@urv.cat by 20 December 2009. Acceptance of
their concern, this collection of papers will address the abstracts will be confirmed by 20 January 2010. Full
communicative turn by which risk objects, categories manuscripts should be submitted before 31 March
and practices have come to be shaped by the theory 2010. All contributions will be subject to anonymous
and discourse that informs risk communication. peer-review.

Looking beyond the B-side from the G-side:

the under- and misrepresentation of the
Roma in the media
Iolanda Tortajada Rovira i Virgili University
Cilia Willem University of Barcelona
What is shown on TV about the Roma is always the B-side.

(LS1 – a male Roma respondent)
Abstract Keywords
In this article we present the results of two different studies – ‘What Of Us Is In Roma
This?’ (carried out in 2006 at the University of Lleida and supported by the Catalan media representation
Audiovisual Council) and Roots&Routes (carried out between 2005 and 2008 at ethnic minorities
the University of Barcelona). These studies, on the one hand, reach the same con- cultural identity
clusions using different methodologies and, on the other, illustrate that the results inclusive research
obtained from engaging in a dialogue with Roma people about their media represen- media transformation
tation (using qualitative techniques with the intention of giving them a voice) are
not any different from the conclusions that have come out of more classical content
and discourse analyses about minorities and the media performed to date.
When we asked the Roma about their perceptions and opinions of their rep-
resentation in the media, we realized that they were quite conscious and critical
about media discourses that offer a stereotyped vision of them, constructing a defi-
nition of being Roma by using difference and conflict. The Roma who participated
in our study described how the media make them invisible and represent them in
a distorted way. Thus, we can affirm the validity of a methodology that focuses its
attention on giving a voice to the subjects, as this will not only contribute to rein-
forcing the results of other techniques, but also makes us think about the adequacy
of research based exclusively on an analysis of the message (object), without tak-
ing into account the groups that are marginalized, and not only by the media, but
also by research itself (subjects).
Introduction
The title of this article was inspired by a comment by a gitano (a member of
the Spanish Roma community) who participated in one of the research
projects that will be presented here. In an interview he stated that what is
broadcast about the Roma people on TV is always the ‘B-side’, meaning that
Roma culture is generally second class and not recognized, whereas, on the
contrary, the image and discourse offered by the media about Roma
CJCS_1.1_04_art_Tortajada&Willem_29-46.indd 29 7/22/09 11:07:29 AM

1. The research team contributes to the audience’s perception of them as either exotic or problem-
consisted of Jesús
Gómez (UB),
atic, and implies a supposed unwillingness to participate in mainstream cul-
Fidel Molina (UdL), ture. This turned out to be a general feeling among Roma concerning the
Dolors Mayoral media (the point of view of the gitano, the G-side).
(UdL), Esther Oliver
(UNIZAR),
‘What Of Us Is In This?’ departs from the question of what members of
Lídia Puigvert ethnic minorities – considering what they see and hear in the media –
(UB), Miquel Àngel would answer if we asked them how much they identified with the image
Pulido (UdL),
Iolanda Tortajada
of their daily reality projected in the media. We decided that the best way
(UdL) and Julio to do this was to obtain a general vision from Roma people, among other
Vargas (CEG) and, as ethnic minority groups, and to listen to their reflections and ideas about
research assistants,
Anda-Elena Epure,
how to transform those representations. Especially interesting to us was,
Aïda Espasa, Jordi on the one hand, studying their reception of these messages, and on the
Noró, Maria Roigé, other hand, adding new elements to the reflection about the role of the
Cristina Rodríguez,
Romina Rodríguez
media in the coexistence of different cultures. As pointed out by Greenberg
and Bouchra Sbai and Brand (1996), the academic literature has been little concerned with
(UdL). the impact of media content on the perceptions of minorities in a majority
2. This study is part world, and ‘generally, it seems that in this field less research efforts are
of Cilia Willem’s made in a time when the public conscience about minority issues is
doctoral thesis, in
which both Roma
increasing’ (Greenberg and Brand 1996: 365).
and other ethnic and ‘What Of Us Is In This?’ was financed by the Catalan Audiovisual
cultural minorities Council (CAC) and carried out in 2006. The project was implemented by
participated. The
results presented here
lecturers and researchers at the University of Lleida and the University of
only concern the Barcelona, along with members of CREA (Centre of Research in Theories
Roma participants. and Practices that Overcome Inequalities, associated with the University
of Barcelona) and of Centre d’Estudis Gitano (CEG, Centre for Roma
Studies). Fifteen people from different cultural and knowledge backgrounds
(communication studies, methodology, philology, sociology, journalism,
education and history) made up the research team,1 including some mem-
bers of the studied minority groups themselves. The respondents were rep-
resentative of their communities, and some were also members of Roma
associations, such as the women’s association, Drom Kotar Mestipén, the
cultural association, Asociación Cultural Gitana de Camps Blancs, and the
historical music association, Asociación para la Recuperación de Garrotines y
Rumbas Históricas de Lleida.
In Roots&Routes, co-funded by the Culture 2000 programme of the
European Commission, we followed young people with diverse ethno-
cultural backgrounds with a talent for media-making in Barcelona over a
period of three years (2006–2008) in the context of a doctoral research
project.2 Six Roma participated in the group. Some of them participated for
only one year, others got involved more closely and carried on participat-
ing in the project as a senior talent or peer coach, and still others remain
associated with it today. In the three years of the study, four of the six
Roma participated in the research.
Theoretical framework
Both studies share three premises that are central to the research pre-
sented here:
• The media are not limited to merely reflecting reality, but rather contrib-
ute to constructing it. (Tuchman 1983)
30 Iolanda Tortajada and Cilia Willem

• Media potential is ambivalent as the media widen the horizon of human
communication, but at the same time hierarchize it. (Habermas 1987)
• Due to their capacity to reflect, people are able to influence struc-
tures (the same way that structure influences human agency), and
they can interpret their social conditions and their own actions.
(Giddens 1991, 1993)
From this starting point, in both studies we inquired about the representa-
tion of ethnic minorities in the media, about how these minorities see
themselves through the media, and about the relationship established
between media messages and the construction of meaning.
How do the media represent ethnic minorities?

Every image embodies a point of view (Berger 2006). In the case of media,
according to van Dijk (1997), the dimensions of race and class produce
certain cognitions and practices among journalists that induce them to
ignore those who are considered to be ‘others’ (external groups or outsid-
ers). For Dyer, too, representation concerns the way others perceive the
members of a certain group, their place and their rights. According to the
author, nowadays there is no freedom or equality in the representation
regime whatsoever (Dyer 1993).
If this is the way we perceive cultural groups, it is not surprising that
many authors who have worked in the field come to the same conclusion:
those who are not considered to be part of the dominant culture are repre-
sented by the media in a stereotyped and negative way (Cottle 2000;
Giroux 2000, 2003; Hall 1997; Igartua, Muñiz and Otero 2006; Rodrigo
and Martínez 1997; van Dijk 1997), and that over time new stereotypes
have emerged that are more subtle than before (Greenberg and Brand
1996). These conclusions can be extended to different cultural groups,
whether the Hispanic community, Asian Americans, African Americans
or Native Americans (Larson 2006). The cited studies also conclude that,
in addition to experiencing distorted representation, all these groups are
under-represented, except for African Americans, who have been better
represented in recent years (Mastro and Greenberg 2000). Some groups
are not present at all in media representations.
The media-makers themselves seem to know little or nothing about the
daily lives or the discrimination and racism faced by ethnic minorities, or
indeed whether the topics, sources and people attributed to these cultural
groups actually correspond to them, even when the topic concerns them
directly (van Dijk 1997). The enriching aspects of other cultures do not
appear as news, unless it is to underline their exoticism or the difficulty for
the dominant culture to assimilate them (Rodrigo and Martínez 1997).
Instead of inviting viewers to question stereotypes about minorities,
the media generally transmit hegemonic messages about them. Most sub-
jects related to ethnic minorities are treated in a way that masks racism
and pushes forward a dominant ideology (Entman 1992, Erjavec 2001,
Larson 2006, Van Dijk 1997). Since old-fashioned racist images are not
socially acceptable anymore, the stereotypes are now more subtle. For
African Americans, for example, modern messages of racism are transmit-
ted; these show general affective hostility toward black people and rejection
Looking beyond the B-side from the G-side 31

of black political aspirations, and deny that discrimination continues to be
a problem for blacks (Entman 1992).
Literature referring specifically to the Roma people is quite scarce. The
Roma are continuously subjected to racist discourse and, for example, in
the case of Slovenia, portrayals are quite simplistic, showing a set of simple
topics related to problems and conflicts. Roma are represented as a problem
(Erjavec, Hvratin and Kelbl 2000); in the Hungarian media, they are pre-
sented as poorly educated, poor and ill people, involved in conflicts and
scandals, or as great and entertaining musicians (Munk 2007). In Spain,
negative portrayal of Roma in the news fell between 1995 and 2001 (from
31.1 per cent to 17.46 per cent of the analyzed news items). However, two
images are still the basis of a stereotyped representation: the gitano artist
and the gitano criminal. Their treatment in the media is usually sensation-
alistic, the information lacks profundity and rigour, and in most reports,
information is not checked with Roma sources (Ramírez Heredia 1997,
2002). The media present a dominant interpretation of ethnic discrimina-
tion, and justify the inferior position of Roma. Journalists strengthen the
majority group’s image of the Roma, repeating stereotypes and exclusively
presenting them as members of an ethnic group rather than as individuals,
and ignoring them as sources of information (Erjavec 2001).
Finally, from the theoretical perspectives of cultivation and social iden-
tity theories, the images created by the media may contribute to the devel-
opment of stereotypes about minorities and attitudes toward minorities by
out-group members, potentially establishing unwarranted status differences
for utilization in intergroup contexts (Mastro and Behm-Morawitz 2005).
Why should we go beyond the message?

According to David Morley, the meaning produced by the encounter
between text and subject cannot be extracted directly from the character-
istics of the text itself (Morley 1996: 127). Reception should therefore be
understood as a practice of people who are actively involved with the con-
tent they receive from the media, and representations interpreted in a
process of signifying practices (Hall 1997). Through this process of inter-
pretation, individuals reflect themselves and others, thinking about them-
selves and about the world (Thompson 1998).
The text-audience interaction is thus a complex process, and studying it
goes beyond the sum of the elements, as it implies looking into the interde-
pendencies between them (Livingstone 1993). Concerning the text, it is
important to note that the interpretations derived from the text are not infi-
nite, but rather confined to a structured polysemia (Hall 1973, 1980; Morley
1996). Stuart Hall (1973) states that texts transmit a dominant codification
embedded in their messages, and John Fiske (1987) reminds us that televi-
sion texts are produced by a capitalist institution, thus stressing the need to
acknowledge its ideology. The effects, but also the uses and gratifications,
are framed within structures of interpretation and social and economic con-
structs that allow the signified messages to become behaviour or conscience.
This confinement, suggesting a preferred meaning, is not determining, as it
can be decoded according to a different map of meanings. They have a social
basis and can be categorized according to the position of the ‘dominant
(or hegemonic) reading’, the ‘negotiated reading’, and the ‘oppositional

(or counter-hegemonic) reading’ (Hall 1973). In the first stance, the reader 3. Although no official
figures exist (ethnic
fully shares the text’s code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading background is not
(a reading which may not have been the result of any conscious intention considered in Spanish
on the part of the author), in such a way that the code seems natural and registers), according
to data for 1999
transparent. In the second case, readers partly share the text’s code and from the Roma
broadly accept the preferred reading, but sometimes resist and modify it in a Asociación Secretariado
way that reflects their own position, experiences and interests. This position General Gitano
(included in the Plan
involves contradictions. Finally, in a counter-hegemonic decoding, the Integral del Pueblo
reader, placed (by their social situation) in a directly oppositional relation to Gitano en Cataluña
the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share 2002–2006), it
is estimated that
the text’s code and so rejects this reading, bringing to bear an alternative 52,937 Roma live
frame of reference (Hall 1973). The recognition of these possible readings in Catalonia and that
does not, however, imply the mythification of the public (as being always 630,847 Roma live
in Spain as a whole.
critical and creative), nor does it accept the relativistic notion that every-
thing has the same value (Morley 1997).
What we understand by reception analysis is not only concerned with
the influence of media on the audience and vice versa, but rather with the
question of how media and audiences interact as creators of meaning in
society. In other words, domination and subordination are dynamic posi-
tions in an ongoing process, rather than fixed notions. Stuart Price pro-
poses a dialectical approach, in which understanding recuperation and
contestation of messages are seen as a process of mediation (Price 1998).
It is this idea that framed our research throughout, focusing attention on
Roma people in order to find out how they interpret and give meaning to
the portrayals constructed by the media.
Empirical background
Despite the fact that there are as many as 50,000 Roma in Catalonia3 and
that they have been part of Catalan society for over 500 years, it was not
until 21 November 2001 that the Social Policy Commission of the Catalan
Parliament adopted Resolution 1045/VI by which Roma identity was rec-
ognized as such and the value of their people and culture acknowledged.
The government was also asked to support the diffusion of Roma culture
as a value in Catalan society.
Of course this was a great achievement, but at the same time it showed
the barriers Roma were (and still are) facing when participating in our
society on a cultural, economical and political level. Which role do the
media play in this process? To what degree do they recognize and take
Roma culture into account? What resources do Roma use to construct
their identities when media representation of them is distorted?
Apart from the acknowledgement referred to above, Resolution 1045/VI
also proposed the implementation of a study of the Roma population in
Catalonia as a basis for the further development of a comprehensive Roma
plan for Catalonia (Plan Integral del Pueblo Gitano en Cataluña 2002–2006).
Both in the implemented study and plan, one of the focus areas was the media
and the social and public image of the Roma. In one of the study’s sections,
based on fieldwork carried out by researchers, it was stated that ‘what we see
in the mass media is not Roma culture, but it is attributed to Roma culture,
and even worse, to all Roma people’ (Sánchez 2005: 306). One of the respond-
ents pointed out that ‘there is no equity, no equal treatment in the news media

4. Payo is a word regarding […] multiculturalism’ (Sánchez 2005: 307). One of the conclusions
used by the Roma
community in Spain
of this study was that generalizations used by the media cause the audience to
to refer to a have a distorted and stereotyped vision of the Roma people, whom they asso-
non-Roma. ciate with marginality and conflict. Moreover, from the voices reflected in this
study, it becomes clear that there is a risk for the construction of the Roma
identity, caused by the lack of representation in the media – as reflected in one
of the interviews, where one respondent says: ‘Like my grandmother used to
say: “When I turn on the TV, my house fills up with payos”’ (Sánchez 2005:
307).4 In other words, we see that the media talk about the Roma from a
dominant society point of view, and for many people this mediated image is
the only contact they have with Roma culture.
Methodology
The results of both studies, summarized in the next section, evolve around
the question of the Roma audience’s perception of their representation in
the media and the strategies used by Roma members who have received
some training in media production to represent themselves. These results
are a specific part of two different research projects that also focused on
other cultural groups, but the Roma community was dealt with separately
for the purpose of this article. Two aspects stand out: first, much of the
research on media and cultural groups is centred exclusively on immigra-
tion, neglecting other realities like diasporas or local ethnic groups; and
secondly, both projects, despite the fact that they were carried out at dif-
ferent times and from different angles, arrive at the same conclusions. In
this sense, the results reinforce each other, which is of particular impor-
tance considering their qualitative methodology. What follows is a brief
description of the methodology and fieldwork of the research project ‘What
Of Us Is In This?’ and the interviews carried out during the Roots&Routes
project as part of ongoing doctoral research.
‘What Of Us Is In This?’ was based on a critical communicative method-
ology (Gómez et al. 2007). In this paradigm, social interaction is underlined,
stating that interaction is where meaning emerges. Objectivity is conceived
as inter-subjectivity and a certain reality is studied not only to discover and
interpret it, but also to transform it. Apart from these premises, the critical
communicative methodology goes by the following four principles:
• Since all individuals have capacities for language as well as for action,
any of us can interpret our experiences and those of others and create
knowledge.
• Individuals are not merely the product or the reflection of structures,
but rather transformative social agents.
• Communicative rationality (the use of language as a medium for
understanding) must be recognized apart from cognitive instrumental
rationality (the manipulation of information as a medium for adapta-
tion to the environment).
• We have to keep in mind common sense when researching; and inter-
pretations must be derived from arguments and inter-subjectivity
rather than from a hierarchy between researchers and researched that
is based on aspirations of power but has nothing to do with the process
of researching or applying a scientific method.

The data collection techniques were qualitative: life stories and discussion 5. For media
productions within
groups. Both had a communicative orientation, in line with the research the framework
paradigm. As opposed to a life story, where the respondent performs a of the project by
biographical narration, a communicative life story (Gómez et al. 2007) participants, see:
http://rootsbarcelona.
consists of a dialogue between researcher and respondent with the aim of blogspot.com
jointly reflecting on and interpreting the daily life of the one who is relat-
ing the story. Thoughts, reflections, ways of acting, living and resolving
situations are collected and analyzed through a cooperative process of
understanding. It is not a biography, but a reflexive narration about the
world and the participants’ lives.
Communicative discussion groups (Gómez et al. 2007) allow for con-
frontation between individual subjectivity and group subjectivity, result-
ing in a drawing together of different perspectives and experiences. It is
based on an egalitarian dialogue between individuals and aimed at con-
structing a collective interpretation of the topic. The group is a natural
group – consisting of people who already know each other and who usu-
ally carry out activities together – and the discussion ideally takes place in
a familiar context for the participants.
Roots&Routes looks into the mechanisms of identity construction that
takes place when young people use and work with media (digital video) in
a multiethnic context. One of the research questions was if, and in what
ways, migrants and ethnic minorities identified with the image given of
them by mainstream media and what their ideas were concerning causes
and alternatives. The young people participated in the project in three dif-
ferent ways: they received basic training in using a camera and capturing
and editing images; they made reports, documentaries and self-portraits
related to the project; and finally they participated as informants for the
research.5
The data gathering methods were threefold and based on an ethno-
graphic methodology consisting of participant observation, field note-
taking and in-depth interviewing (Machin 2002). The study covered three
years of following up and working with the participants in both formal
and informal settings. This included observations not only of individual
actions and talk, but also of their video productions, of the group as a
whole, and of the relationships established between members. Ethnographic
methods imply detailed observations of people in terms of their particular
individual processes, and in terms of their habitus (Bourdieu 1972). It
means socializing with the participants, asking questions and establishing
dialogue in formal and informal situations. It means going out with them
on Saturday nights.
Qualitative research interviews, especially in ethnography, are typi-
cally referred to as depth or in-depth interviews (Lincoln and Guba 1985).
The most interesting advantage of in-depth interviews for this kind of
study is their open and non-structured nature. It was precisely the depth
of the conversation that allowed us to move beyond surface talk to a rich
discussion of thoughts and feelings. The participants were interviewed
more than once, with topics that emerged as important from preliminary
data analysis pursued in subsequent interviews. This kind of persistent
involvement with informants made it more likely that we would come to
understand their perceptions of the media at a deeper level.

6. With the aim
of quoting the par- What Of Us Is In This?
ticipants according
to the technique Paradigm Techniques6 Participants
used, and given that
the information is Critical communicative Three communicative Three female Roma
extracted from two methodology life stories (LS1, LS2, and three male Roma,
different projects, LS3) aged 30 to around 60
we have re-coded
the quotes in order
years old, with different
One communicative levels of education and
to facilitate reader
comprehension. Life discussion group (G1) different work situa-
stories are coded as LS tions, members of four
(LS1, LS2, LS3), the different associations
group discussion par-
ticipants as G, and the
in-depth interviews as
I (I1, I2, I3, I4). Roots&Routes
Paradigm Techniques Participants
Critical interpretative Participant observation One female Roma and

three male Roma, aged
Ethnography applied to 4 in-depth interviews between 18 and 27,
media studies (I1, I2, I3, I4) with different levels of
education and different
work situations, two
belonging to the same
Roma community and
the other two to differ-
ent ones
Table 1: Summary of the data collection techniques used in each of the studies.
As to the ethical aspects of scientific rigour, in both projects it was borne

in mind that any academic analysis may result in a dominant or preferred
reading. If in this reading there is no place for other groups or individuals
directly affected by the studied events or topics, there is a danger of it becom-
ing an exclusive reading, or indeed an excluding one. Excluding research
projects are those that do not take into account the voices of the people or
groups presented in the study, thereby arriving at conclusions that tend to
increase social exclusion (Touraine, Wieviorka and Flecha 2004).
The following sections describe the complete results for ‘What Of Us Is
In This?’ and the preliminary results for Roots&Routes, covering the same
topic of media representations and referring to Roma community mem-
bers. Although each of the studies used different data gathering and anal-
ysis techniques, they yielded very similar results.
Results
My name is Tati, and I am a Catalan Roma.
(I1 – female, 27 years old.)
All participants in both studies agreed on two points, which at the same
time will be the main conclusions of this article. Regardless of their level of

education, gender or class, they read media messages consciously and crit-
ically: they were quite aware of the media representations of their cultural
group, which they believed stereotyped them and made their culture invis-
ible and which reduced their identity to questions of marginalization and
exclusion – as if being a Roma excluded them from being anything else.
This distorted representation was very significant for them, since it created
barriers for their social participation, although they believe that transfor-
mation of the media is possible (and necessary). They trusted the media to
contribute to a more realistic and positive image and recognition of their
cultural group.
1. How do Roma read their media representations?

When the study topic (media representation) was introduced to them, the
participants showed themselves to be very aware of the invisibility and
distorted representation of Roma people. Following Hall, we could identify
their position as an oppositional or counter-hegemonic reading (Hall
1973). This was the case in both studies without exception.
Roma approach the media with caution. Aware of the power of
the media, they value their capacity for recognition and mutual
knowledge:
We should share a little bit and they should listen a little bit more to Roma
people, because we all learn from each other. (LS1)
But they also value their power to separate:
TV is quite tyrannical in that sense, because it generates visions, represen-

tations, of a group, a community. And people who have no contact with
this group, this community, believe them. These values are then transmitted
generation after generation. (I2)
The people who participated in this research felt as if the media did not
know them and they therefore tend to prefer and identify themselves with
those channels and/or programmes with slightly more Roma members
and a better representation of their culture:
I notice the difference with here; back there, they appear. They don’t talk
about those trash programmes, when there is a wedding, no. It is normal
that there are Roma, even presenting programmes, be it about flamenco or
not, anything, it is like more normal. (LS3)
Moreover, they heavily criticize the negative image constantly transmitted

by the media and the fact that they use being a Roma to explain events
and/or attack the community:
There are very few news reports about Roma who have done something
good. Always bad, bad, and stressing the fact that they are from a Roma
background. I think that’s not fair because when a payo kills his wife they
don’t say ‘from payo background’. Or the ETA terrorists: they don’t say ‘he’s
from ETA and he is payo’, they don’t say that. (I3)

2. What meanings do Roma attribute to the media
representations of their people?
As we pointed out before, the people who participated in the life stories
were very conscious of how Roma are rendered invisible by the media and
of biased media representation:
You go to the market: there are Roma; you go to the cinema: there are
Roma; you go to a hospital: there are Roma. We cannot be the unknowns
to the media, and we only appear when there is negative news about us. I
mean, come on …! (LS2)
The bias is such that it tends to underline the exceptional and ignore the
usual:
There are Roma who are very integrated, there are Roma solicitors, Roma
photographers, social assistants… There are a lot of things and all this does
not appear on TV. (LS1)
The participants also believed that representations of their community in

the media were mainly associated with either conflict (fights, revenge, vio-
lence, assassination and crime) or with folklore and show business. Another
frequent image was poverty, which was perceived as a simplification, as
the media fail to take into account social transformations from which Roma
have also benefited. Generally they consider that representation in the
media was quite stereotyped. Roma participants described their image as
presented by the media with terms like ‘little snot-nosed kid’ (referring to
images of dirty and helpless children) and ‘bonfires’, for example.
When the Roma appear on TV it is a 100 per cent stereotype: either crimi-
nals, or with snot on their faces and poor. (LS3)
Additionally, they complained about the fact that when something is

shown about their traditions – weddings, for example – most of the reports
are sensational and use the folkloric elements as a perpetual stereotype.
The media, in fact, often pick out the people in the community who have
a narrower vision of the subject. Some of the participants mentioned that,
particularly in trash programmes, the most outrageous stories were picked
out, with Roma women often featured as subjected to tradition and sub-
missive to their situation. The stereotypes were also reflected in Roma
characters in fiction series: Roma were always in trouble or committing
crimes. The situation is worse when we look at archive material: images
often refer to previous times and are used as background footage for news
reports on Roma, thus stigmatizing them against a background of shacks
and shanty towns that disappeared long ago and with no link whatsoever
to the story.
The participants denounced the fact that the only appearances of Roma
people in the media were related to negative facts and events. The Roma
considered this as damaging for their people, not only because of the direct
consequences they suffer from a dominant group that does not recognize
them as being part of society, but also for their own community.

Little Roma kids who watch TV think that being a Roma is what they see on
TV. You end up believing it, and you have to fight against it to realise that
it is not. And of course, you go through a process of believing what you see
on TV and wanting to be like that […] to show that you are a Roma, and
afterwards realising that it has nothing to do with us. I don’t feel identified
with that at all now, but when you are little you do. (I2)
The people who participated in both studies thought that the media should
stop this kind of practice, based on always showing the negative side.
3. What causes do Roma attribute to the media representation

of their people?
We have already pointed to the perception that the media know little or
nothing about Roma communities:
The problem of the media is that they are very often not well informed, espe-
cially when we talk about minorities. This lack of information leads to gen-
eralizations and stereotypes. (G1)
During fieldwork, other aspects related to this lack of information came up

that allowed us to affirm that the Roma – as opposed to other cultural
groups – did not feel guilty or responsible for their media representation.
They did not think the problem was caused by them or their culture, even
though social and cultural inequality is reflected in the media.
Do you realize what is like to live in a society where each time something
is said about Roma they say ‘hey, you, you are Roma’, you have to explain
and defend yourself? Well, I’ve had enough, enough of that, OK? (LS2)
Apart from lack of knowledge, journalists and media professionals also

tend to attribute isolated events or specific cases to the whole community.
They shouldn’t make a cultural problem out of an occasional problem of a

particular person in a particular context and time. (LS3)
The Roma is a diverse people, you cannot measure it with 1 and then with
13. (LS3)
Some of the participants pointed to the exclusiveness of the profession and

the fact that media professionals often forget that it is their job to treat
their subjects respectfully.
It should be changed that the people who arrive at the top are so snobbish, I
mean the people who inform, who make the news, shouldn’t be from Pedralbes
[a rich neighbourhood in Barcelona]. Look for people who are from Mataró,
from Sant Boi, and you will see that those people know what to say. They
should be in charge, because they have lived with the community. (LS2)
When they talk about the Roma, it’s like they have to get it off their chest.
And it shouldn’t be that way. (G1)

As for generalization, it came up that that media present the Roma – and
their cultural characteristics – as responsible for their own situation:
They have always asked Roma to change, and they still ask us to change.
When are you going to change? (LS2)
Despite this general position, one of the participants recognized that the
Roma themselves could pay more attention to education:
Well, they could do something important here: a gitano doctor, a gitano solic-
itor, a gitano politician, that would be full on! (I4)
4. Do Roma see some kind of alternative?

Despite the barriers they identify, the people who participated in the
research believed that there should be some dramatic changes in pro-
grammes about Roma and the way they are handled. They considered
these changes to be urgent and justified, and despite their critical position,
Roma still look to the media to make it happen:
I am willing to try and change but I also want to say: that’s it. (LS3)
Most of the alternatives that were suggested during the fieldwork had to
do with access to the media, professional practices and media regulators.
As to access, several individuals called for media training and for opportu-
nities for Roma to be part of media staff:
To take part as far as having professionals within [the media], I mean Roma
journalists, with everything, with the camera, so that it is something estab-
lished, like that there must be 10 per cent. We will then have to work for
other things too, but at least it will be present. Why? Because they will have
access. (LS3)
As for professional practices, several participants considered that profes-

sionals should – apart from their technical training – receive some kind of
social and cultural education, and that it was the duty of journalists to
inform themselves on the topics they handle and, when a situation of dis-
crimination occurs, not to encourage it.
If you have to talk about the Roma, you do, but after informing yourself
thoroughly. (G1)
It is necessary that they take the initiative [referring to the journalists]. (G1)
This is what the professional commitment of media makers consists of. It

shouldn’t be stereotyping. They should be much more professional instead of
knocking down the work that the entities have being doing for a very long
time. (G1)
In some of the in-depth interviews, it was defended that independent

regulators should ensure that media professionals comply with the

recommendations of the regulators, or in the case of the Roma, of the 7. A handbook of rec-
ommendations for
associations themselves:7 journalists was devel-
oped by the Roma
There could be a specific law for all the TV channels, all the media corpora- association Unión
Romaní in 1998,
tions, that forces them to represent minorities. By obligation. (I2)
entitled El pueblo
gitano. Manual para
In the discussion group it was mentioned that there should be advisory periodistas.
committees for the programmes:
A body should be created where journalists, solicitors and Roma associa-

tions sit around the table. (G1)
Roma demands were mainly related to recognition. Directors and people

in charge must become aware of discrimination against Roma women and
men and take heed of the existing recommendations. If this were not pos-
sible – and according to all the participants the current reality was quite
far away from this ideal – the alternative would be to have their own space
in the media to show Roma reality to society:
I would positively discriminate the weakest ones, and give access to those
individuals who come from lower down. (LS2)
They must occupy powerful positions. (G1)
The day that there is something like that [Roma ethnic media], payos would
pay more attention to us and automatically they would come closer. They
would get to know us better and we wouldn’t be just a gypsy, but people
who have this, who have that. They would be more interested in us. (LS1)
Finally, in the discussion group it was suggested that the media should not
only show the elements that separate the Roma out but rather what peo-
ples have in common.
Discussion and conclusions

To data most studies on ethnic minorities and the media have centred
their attention on media messages and preferred readings linked to the
dominant discourse of the media. This discourse is constructed on the
basis of ‘us’ and ‘them’, and usually justifies the exclusion of minorities,
who do not have the opportunity to show their point of view. This kind of
content and discourse analysis has shown us how, generally, all minori-
ties are under- and misrepresented by the media. This first step has been
very important and necessary, but we also have to look into the real
impact of this media discourse: analysis of the message tells us something
about the kind of effects envisaged, but does not show us what kind of
effects were produced in the end (Eco 1994).
Some recent studies have focused their attention on the effect of dis-
courses and images among the affected groups (Mok 1998, Rivadeneyra,
Ward and Gordon 2007). However, such studies are still scarce and are
faced with the challenge of establishing causal relationships between vari-
ables. It is probably for this reason that their conclusions concern the

internal psychological affectation of individuals, rather than the structural
questions that were raised in content analysis. Our projects, based on the
conclusions of previous content analysis studies, intend to acknowledge
the vision of the Roma in regard to the media portrayal of their people.
Especially interesting for us was the reception of those messages among
the affected cultural groups, with our intention being to add new elements
to the discussion on the role the media has to play in the coexistence of
different cultures.
Results from our fieldwork show that Roma’s perception of their media
representation, regardless of their education level, gender or class, coincided
with the findings from other studies about minorities and media (or about
immigration and media) based on content and discourse analysis. As we
have pointed out, Roma are presented as a problem (Erjavec, Hvratin and
Kelbl 2000), based on gross generalizations, and highlighting their poverty,
lack of education, situations of conflict or artistic talents (Munk 2007,
Ramírez Heredia 1997, 2002). These conclusions confirm the perceptions
garnered from our interviews, in which Roma mention that most media
representations of their community are related to conflict or to show busi-
ness, and that the predominant image is the poverty of the Roma people.
In order to strengthen the affirmation that the opinion of the inter-
viewees generally coincides with the conclusions of content analysis, we
could have complemented the research with a synchronous content
analysis at the local and state level during the fieldwork period. Despite
the lack of this content analysis, our preliminary results already point in
the direction of the need for studies that combine both techniques, and
at the same time reinforce some of the previous conclusions.
Another relevant issue is that the Roma who participated in the
research generally showed their rejection toward and a lack of identifica-
tion with the media portrayals, and wanted the media to take a more
responsible role when representing them. Although they recognized that
the media have been a little more respectful in recent times, they not only
rejected the stereotypes about the Roma, but also very easily identified
them. Their rejection was based on the argument that this image had
absolutely nothing to do with what the media call Roma or indeed with
reality (which does not imply that if someone has committed a crime this
should be denied, but rather that their ethnicity should not be explicitly
mentioned). Moreover, they regretted and complained about the fact that
payo society had very little understanding of who they were. Following
Hall’s different readings (Hall 1973, 1980), we found that, as opposed to
the conclusions of some studies in which certain groups occasionally
adopted a position of dominant decoding – wanting to be like ‘whites’
(Mok 1998) or naturalising and justifying the stereotypes attributed to
their group (Park, Gabbadon and Chernin 2006) – the Roma reading is an
oppositional one. This does not imply, however, that the manner in which
ethnic minorities are depicted on television is of no consequence to real-
world intergroup interactions (Mastro and Behm-Morawitz 2005); Roma
feel the disdain of the dominant society and partly attribute this to the
ignorance caused by inaccurate portrayals in the media.
We could describe their vision as more structure-based than individual-
based, since the interviewees in both studies generally considered that the

media played a very negative role with regard to identity and inclusion of
cultural groups and with regard to social and cultural coexistence. The
Roma were of the opinion that the simplifications and stereotypes used to
portray them were damaging, affecting their daily lives in very diverse
ways; they also considered that it was high time for a change, both for
their own sake and for society’s sake – if society really wanted to benefit
from the contributions of those who had been living within it for many
centuries but were still invisible. It would be interesting to further investi-
gate why this reflection and position features the Roma as opposed to
other cultural groups.
The people who participated in our study did not limit themselves to
reflecting and valuing their media portrayal, but also often looked for
explanations as to why the media projected negative representations.
Participants mentioned the distance between the media and certain cul-
tural groups as being a consequence of elitism, as well as the fact that
media-makers often forget that respect toward their subject(s) should be
part of their professional code. Following Dixon and Linz (2000), an exces-
sive emphasis on this explanation could ignore other factors related to
professional routines; nonetheless, it is still remarkable that the conclu-
sions reached by the participants in our study fit with the theories of
authors who have shown how the discourse of the elite frames the con-
struction of reality (van Dijk 1997, Entman 1992).
Finally, we would like to point out that the people who participated in
the research made it quite clear that, in their opinion, coexistence and
communication are a solution for discriminatory discourses. The Roma
believe that the media can enhance mutual understanding between cul-
tural groups and foster recognition, helping to show the heterogeneity and
diversity of society. As Entman (1994) argues, if we understand that the
final aim of journalism is to build true knowledge about facts, media corpo-
rations could (and indeed should) be aware of the effect that accumulated
negative and isolated news items can have in the creation of damaging
stereotypes and so should improve their practices as a consequence.
By focusing our research on reflecting the perception and opinions of
Roma in regard to their media portrayal and by giving them a voice (learn-
ing with them, rather than about them), we have reached the same conclu-
sions as reflected in previous research on content analysis, and have found
that Roma opinions generally coincide with theoretical developments in the
field. Moreover, this approach is the only way to find out about the impact
of these representations. We were thus surprised by the current lack of work
in this direction, which in itself would be an interesting subject to look into.
We hope that we have contributed to showing the importance of these kinds
of questions with an adequate methodological focus.
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Contributors details
Iolanda Tortajada (Ph.D.) is a reader at the Department of Communication Studies
at Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain). She has worked in the field of
media representation of minorities and coordinated numerous research projects
on the topic.
Contact: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Campus Centre, Avinguda Catalunya, 35,
Edifici Departaments, 43002 – Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
E-mail: yolanda.tortajada@urv.cat
Cilia Willem, a lecturer in Audiovisual Communication at the University of

Barcelona, is currently working on her Ph.D. in the field of media and the con-
struction of cultural identity. As a member of Laboratori de Mitjans Interactius
(Interactive Media Lab), she has coordinated several projects in this field.
Contact: Laboratori de Mitjans Interactius, Pg. Vall d’Hebron 171, Edifici Llevant,
005, 08035 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
E-mail: cilia.willem@ub.edu

Audio-visual communication degree

conversion to the European Higher
Education Area system in Catalonia
Marta Montagut Rovira i Virgili University
Abstract Keywords
Spain is currently adapting its existing university system to European Higher audio-visual
Education Area guidelines for the 2009–2010 academic year. Against this back- communication
ground, we analyzed the development and transformation of the audio-visual com- Catalan university
munication degree currently offered in Catalan universities, consisting of a hybrid European Higher
of theoretical and practical knowledge applied in the audio-visual field. We describe Education Area
research results based on the following data: audio-visual curricular content for job role
eight Catalan universities, nine in-depth interviews conducted with heads of audio-
visual communication studies and a survey of 111 companies regarding labour
market performance of audio-visual communication students on work experience
programmes. On the basis of the results of our study we propose a solution to the
problem of adapting audio-visual communication degrees to the European Higher
Education Area system, based on developing specialisation pathways for different
job roles, media platforms and genres. The pathway option equips the degree with
professional specificity and enables flexible curricula to be developed in accordance
with the capacities of individual universities and the demands of the private sector.
The study also highlights the lack of definition in the job roles of audio-visual com-
munication graduates and the difficulties in establishing differential skills for this
course of studies.
The traditional Spanish university system and the current

legal context
Up to and including the academic year 2008–2009, the Spanish state
has regulated the offer of university courses in both public and private
universities, determining course titles and the core subjects for each
degree. Thus, undergraduate degree structures were very similar in all
the universities, particularly in the first half where most core subjects
were concentrated. Differences between curricula arose only in the area
in which universities could exercise some autonomy of design, namely,
in the choice of obligatory and elective subjects, which were typically
offered in accordance with the philosophy and academic strengths of
each university.
This traditional system is currently being adapted to the European
Higher Education Area (EHEA), for which the relevant legislation is being
prepared. Royal Decree 1393/2007, approved by the Spanish legislature
CJCS_1.1_05_art_Montagut_47-66.indd 47 7/1/09 11:46:23 AM

1. The licentiate, which on 31 October 2007, makes the existing system more flexible and gives
is now to be phased
out, is the equivalent
universities full autonomy when deciding titles for their courses and
of the British bach- designing curricula, with the term grado (degree) to replace the traditional
elor’s degree. licenciatura (licentiate).1 The 2009–2010 academic year has been set as
the deadline for the conversion. However, some Spanish universities feel
that large-scale structural changes and a proliferation of titles that dilute
the existing well-established academic options should be avoided. As part
of a programme called Convergencia Europea (Convergence with Europe), a
series of ‘white papers’ (Libros Blancos), referring to all the knowledge areas
covered by the Spanish university system, have been drawn up with the
assistance of the public universities by the Spanish Agency for Quality
Evaluation and Accreditation (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y
la Acreditación, hereinafter ANECA), which is responsible for ensuring the
correct functioning of higher education in Spain in compliance with the
ruling legislation. These white papers contain guidelines and recommen-
dations for the conversion of Spanish university studies to the EHEA degree
system and, although not entirely binding, approval of degrees by the
Spanish state tends to be dependent upon compliance; Royal Decree
1393/2007, in fact, specifically refers to the fact that following the guide-
lines is likely to provide greater guarantees of the proposed degrees being
recognized as official.
It was in this context of legislative change that we focused our atten-
tion on the existing audio-visual communications degree – offered in Spain
for the past twenty years – and on the need to reconsider curriculum
design and training goals. We wished to challenge the idea that the exist-
ing goals were overly broad and vague to adapt to the premise of univer-
sity education professionalisation as implied by the EHEA. The audio-visual
communication degree in Spain has traditionally been based on a mix of
theory and practice applied to a range of media and genres, resulting in
graduates with a wide range of superficially developed skills but having
poorly deliniated job roles. The problem opens a further discussion about
the role of the university in the new EHEA context, and not only in the
case of the audio-visual communication degree but also in other univer-
sity courses. The debate is focused on the dichotomy between a formation
directly linked with the labour market or a more general, theoretical and
reflexive one.
Catalonia: an historic perspective

The audio-visual communications degree was introduced in Catalonia in
1992, by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) (Generalitat de
Catalunya 1993), which had, for some time, been calling for a new uni-
versity training focus on the media (Ràfols 1996: 17; Vigil y Vázquez
1987: 228; Pérez-Portabella et al. 2004: 1). New degree courses in audio-
visual communication, in advertising and publicity, and in public rela-
tions ended the hegemony of the information studies degree which, for the
previous twenty years, had been the most popular option available to stu-
dents wishing to train as journalists. The demand for new kinds of univer-
sity training that would cover a range of communication subjects was a
response to the need to provide suitable training for new job roles that
were in demand as a consequence of the rapid changes that were taking
48 Marta Montagut

place in communications in Spain. The media context started to change in 2. A definitive job role
is understood to be
the 1980s, with the end of a state television and radio monopoly inherited one that represents
from the period of the Franco dictatorship (Pérez-Portabella et al. 2004; a clear career path-
Rodríguez Merchán 2007: 13–20). The liberalisation of the sector and the way, for example, a
journalism graduate
appearance of private and regional radio and television channels led to a is a journalist or a
demand for professionals with skills other than those traditionally associ- publicity graduate is
ated with journalism. It was at this point that the concept of audio-visual a publicist, whereas
an audio-visual com-
communication was developed as a university training programme that munications graduate
would offer a more all-round and creative vision of the media and of the is not an audio-visual
concept of communications (Martí et al. 2006:5). In other words, the communicator but
could well pursue
audio-visual communications degree came into being in response to explo- a career as a script-
sive growth in the media sector and the need to cover aspects of commu- writer, television
nication not covered by traditional journalism. It is for this reason that producer, announcer,
film director, media
audio-visual communication is traditionally associated with genres such researcher, etc. In
as fiction and entertainment and with media such as television and film – other words, there is
yet has no definitive job roles associated with it.2 a wide range of pos-
sible careers to choose
An explanation for the audio-visual communication degree’s broad from for an audio-vis-
coverage in terms of content and job roles is to be found in the educational ual communications
tradition from which it drew, based around the several professional schools graduate.
offering highly practical and technology-oriented courses that functioned
in Spain from the 1950s until the 1970s (when university-level informa-
tion studies courses became available). The most important of these ‘offi-
cial schools’ were the cinema school (Escola Oficial de Cinematografia) and
the radio and television school (Instituto Oficial de Radio y Televisión).
Together with the (brief) tradition in university training for journalists,
the courses offered by these schools – which provided professional training
for the rigid media system that existed during the Franco dictatorship –
laid the academic basis for what would later develop into the audio-visual
communications degree. This historical background explains the multi-
tude of knowledge areas covered by the existing university audio-visual
communication courses (Rodríguez Merchán 2007: 13–20).
However, the audio-visual communication concept was not only
attractive in terms of providing a university course that would meet the
demand for a range of professionals in the new media context. There was
also a need to make academic research into communications distinct from
all the social science disciplines with which it had points of contact; conse-
quently, a degree course was envisaged that would carve out an autono-
mous territory for itself (Rodríguez Bravo 2003: 17–36).
As mentioned earlier, the UAB launched the first audio-visual commu-
nications degree in 1992. By 2005, a further seven Catalan universities
offered similar courses: three public universities – Pompeu Fabra University
(UPF) in 1993, the University of Barcelona (UB) in 1998 and the University
of Lleida (UdL) in 2004 – and four private universities – Ramon Llull
University (URL) in 2003, the University of Vic (UVic) in 2004, the
International University of Catalonia (UIC) in 2004 and the Open
University of Catalonia (UOC) in 2005. These eight universities were all
included in this study.
The early years of the audio-visual communications degree coincided
with a media context that was changing at a vertiginous rhythm, placing
in doubt the validity of these studies in terms of delimitation and professional
Audio-visual communication degree conversion … 49

3. Interviewed recognition. Advances in the information and communications technolo-
10-01-2008, UPF,
Barcelona.
gies (ICTs) were largely responsible for these changes, leading to: a multi-
plicity of platforms and convergence between these platforms; a
hybridisation of genres; radical changes in communication company pro-
duction routines; the development of new industrial branches of activity;
and the appearance of new professions and roles and the disappearance of
others because of merging roles, etc. (Ortega and Humanes 2000; Domingo
2003; Martí et al. 2006; Scolari 2005; Bonet 2006). These developments
led to a change in the concept of the audio-visual communication degree,
from one aimed at the creation of fiction and entertainment products for
the mass media, to one that incorporated any media product that required
combinations of image, sound and text – independent of the genre or the
platform. According to this perspective, audio-visual communication
includes even products generated in journalism and in advertising and
publicity, as pointed out by the head of studies for this degree course at the
UPF, Montserrat Martí i Saldes,3 whose opinion is also shared by authors
such as Antoni Pérez-Portabella (2004), Carlos Scolari (2005), Hipólito
Vivar (2002) and Montserrat Bonet (2006).
Research methodology
Our aim was to analyse the audio-visual communications degree – as
offered in eight universities in Catalonia – against the current back-
ground of legal, technological and historic changes. Conversion of exist-
ing university courses to the degree model proposed for the EHEA
provides a suitable framework for rethinking a training option that,
despite its popularity, has evident defects, especially in terms of defini-
tion and professional specificity.
We conducted the analysis using the following methods:
• Data analysis. We created a database consisting of all the core and

obligatory subjects for the audio-visual communication degrees offered
by Catalan universities, categorised by type, title, number of credits and
courses in which subjects were given. Subjects were also indicated as
practical or theoretical, so as to reflect the theory-practice balance in each
course. The database – initially based on curricula for the 2006–2007
academic year but subsequently updated with data for the 2007–2008
academic year – was composed of a total of 393 records. In addition, a
list of 250 electives was drawn up, classified in terms of (1) pathways, (2)
fixed distribution per course and (3) free distribution. This data analysis
process enabled us to map the structure and philosophy of each univer-
sity offering an audio-visual communications course.
• Survey. The communications business sector was consulted so as to
obtain opinions in regard to the university training given to audio-
visual communication students and to determine their requirements in
this respect. The survey was addressed by e-mail to all the companies
which, during the 2006–2007 academic year, had agreements with
the universities in regard to employing students on work experience
programmes. We made a previous phone call to contact the work expe-
rience programme coordinator in each company in order to ask them
to fill our questionnaire. This one was sent to 111 companies, of which
50 Marta Montagut

69 responded (62.1 per cent).4 It included questions on student techni- 4. This survey was
initially carried out
cal and non-technical knowledge and attitudes, and also had a section under the auspices
where companies could specify their requirements. Businesses were of a research project
categorised so as to be able to distinguish responses according to differ- implemented by
the Catalan Studies
ent sectors (it was found, for example, that audio-visual producers had Institute (Institut
different demands from television, radio, press and other companies). d’Estudis Catalans,
• In-depth interviews. In-depth interviews were conducted, between or IEC) but was
expanded under our
December 2007 and April 2008, with each of the eight heads of stud- research project in
ies of audio-visual communication degrees offered at Catalan universi- 2007–2008 so as to
ties (Table 1). The interviews rounded out the information provided by update data on the
links between univer-
the data analysis and the survey, providing an informed perspective on sities and the private
sector.
Name Position Interview Date
Norminanda Head of Audio-visual 14 April 2008

Montoya Communication Studies,
Autonomous University of
Barcelona (UAB).
Montserrat Martí i Head of Audio-visual 10 January 2008

Saldes Communication Studies,
Pompeu Fabra University
(UPF).
Elisabet Costa Head of Audio-visual 19 December

Communication Studies, 2007
University of Barcelona (UB).
Joaquim Capdevila Head of the Communications 7 January 2008

Unit, University of Lleida (UdL)
Francesc Alamon Coordinator of Qualifications,
University of Lleida (UdL).
Francesc Vilallonga Head of Audio-visual 5 March 2008

Communication Studies,
Ramon Llull University (URL).
Salvador Aragonès Head of Audio-visual 19 December

Communication Studies, 2007
International University of
Catalonia (UIC).
Eva Caro Head of Audio-visual 9 January 2008

Communication Studies,
University of Vic (UVic).
Lluís Pastor Head of Audio-visual 11 January 2008

Communication Studies, Open
University of Catalonia (UOC).
Source: Author.
Table 1: Interviewees.

5. This and similar the process of conversion to the EHEA and on the changes being made
branches of voca-
tional education
by the universities in terms of adapting to the new degree system.
provides non-uni- • Case study. We analysed the specific case of the Comunication Studies
versity training in Department of the public Rovira i Virgili University (URV), based in
technology that is
focused on edu-
Tarragona, which is where this research was carried out. In 2009–
cating people for 2010, the URV will launch a revamped degree in audio-visual com-
specific labour market munications to be added to the degree in journalism and the degree in
careers.
advertising and public relations that it already offers. Between February
and June 2008, the author of this article participated in meetings held
by those responsible for designing the new degree. The outcome of the
meetings, combined with the results of this research, was a proposal
that will be applied in the final two years of the course. This proposal
could be a useful general model for solving some problems that the
audio-visual communication degree has been suffering for the last
twenty years in Spain. To complement these observations, an in-depth
interview (22 March 2008) was conducted with Bernat López, Head
of the Communication Studies Department and the main driving force
behind the conversion process for the audio-visual communication
degree in the URV.
The lack of definition in audio-visual communication degrees

Our research enabled us to identify the strong and weak points of the
audio-visual communication degrees offered in Catalonia.
An important issue that has come to light is that audio-visual commu-
nication as a title for a university course has been considered convenient
and inconvenient in equal measure. The lack of definition has been con-
sidered convenient against the background of a growing demand in the
communications business sector for all-round professionals (80 per cent of
the companies consulted). The results of the survey highlighted the fact
that the Catalan market seeks professionals who are capable of participat-
ing in any of the media production phases (produce, able to write, film,
edit...). This requires broad-based and multidisciplinary knowledge of tech-
nology, audio-visual languages and communication genres.
This need to integrate technical and creative roles is precisely where
the inconvenience arises. The conceptual and educational breadth of the
audio-visual communication degree causes it to enter into conflict with
other degrees that cover similar ground not specific to the audio-visual
communication degree. On the one hand, journalism – also faced with
changes in the media context – vindicates the breadth of its professional
skills to include, for example, the digital or cyber-journalist (Domingo
2003) who not only provides content and adapts it to any platform but
who is also capable of assuming responsibility for managing and produc-
ing media content (Castelló and Avià 2004: 133). On the other hand,
technological mediation in the creation of audio-visual products opens the
door to professionals with advanced vocational studies in sound and
image,5 who receive intensive technology training for a clearly focused
career. Another example is film study courses offered by schools such as
the Advanced Film and Audio-visual School of Catalonia (Escola Superior
en Cinema i Audio-visuals de Catalunya, or ESCAC) and the Cinematography
and Audio-visual School of Madrid (Escuela de Cinematografía y del Audio-visual
52 Marta Montagut

de Madrid, or ECAM); both focus exclusively on one kind of platform, and 6. Interviewed
11-01-2008, UOC,
this means that they can develop specific curricula that are more coherent Barcelona.
than the much broader curriculum for the audio-visual communications
courses (Rodríguez Merchán 2007: 18).
The diversity of skills and job roles associated with the audio-visual
communication degree means that it is simply a motley assortment of odds
and ends (Scolari 2005: 32) – which, ultimately, makes the professional
recognition of students uncertain. The curriculum valid to the end of the
2008–2009 academic year reflects this broad range in terms of content:
training in radio, television and film; training in different audio-visual pro-
duction phases (narration, scriptwriting, production, direction, etc.); train-
ing in new technologies; and theoretical analysis and reflection on
communications – to just mention a few items. This breadthof study
implies training that is superficial and incoherent, with students touching
on many areas but not developing skills that guarantee entry to the labour
market. Ultimately, this situation has negative repercussions on the
course. Our research results would indicate that successful conversion will
be based on combining a first level of training that ensures breadth with a
second level of training offering a certain amount of specialisation that
can be further rounded off with a master’s degree.
Solutions as reflected in the new degree

Curriculum redesign for the audio-visual communication degree needs to
be considered in terms of dividing the course up in a flexible manner that
responds to academic and, above all, professional requirements. Catalan
universities offering this course of studies have adopted different approaches
in this regard, but essentially decisions have reflected the dichotomy – and
ongoing debate – between academic and professional training (Borrat
1990: 54–63). The academic perspective suggests a role for the university
as a place of reflection and analysis that is not necessarily directly linked
to the business world, whilst the industry perspective suggests that the
university should be at the service of the economy, with students ready to
take up jobs in the labour market. On the basis of this dichotomy, we
found that the Catalan universities had adopted positions closer to one or
the other of these extreme positions in terms of converting their audio-
visual communication courses to the EHEA degree system. The key solu-
tion would be a balance between the two poles of the discussion. However,
it is more difficult to reach an agreement about which the appropriated
balance is. Maybe the different proposals of the Catalan universities can
throw light on this matter not only in a local context, but also on a pan-
European level.
The UOC, which offers distance courses, has opted to offer a profession-
ally oriented audio-visual communication course, replacing the audio-vis-
ual communication concept with a generic communications degree for
the 2009–2010 academic year. The head of studies, Lluís Pastor,6 argued
for the creation of a course with a first stage that would equip students
with theoretical grounding in communications, technology, platforms and
genres, and a second stage that would provide training in more specific
job roles. These roles would be designed jointly with companies to ensure
that they would respond to actual demand. Examples include director,

7. Interviewed scriptwriter for entertainment programmes and digital journalist. This
05-03-2008, URL,
Barcelona.
decision by the UOC was inspired by two issues: firstly, from a private
sector perspective, the job role of the ‘audio-visual communicator’ did not
8. Interviewed 14-04-
2008, UAB, Bellaterra
exist, and secondly, audio-visual communication as a degree course
(Barcelona). responded more to the evident success of this brand in public universities
rather than to a concern for professional effectiveness.
Another professionally oriented strategy is exemplified by the URL. In
an endeavour to better target its audio-visual communication course, the
URL has launched, in its place, a cinema and television degree course for
the 2008–2009 academic year. According to the head of studies, Francesc
Vilallonga,7 the overly broad conceptual base of the previous course is
now reduced to just two specific platforms, thereby substantially clarifying
the professional area in which students will eventually work. The URL has
thus converted its course into one with a clearly professional focus. Note
that changes in titles and content, however, also respond to a strategy of
differentiation among universities that also endeavours to avoid radical
changes in curricular structure.
At the opposite extreme are the more academic stances adopted, as one
example, by the UAB, with a more conservative operational paradigm
than other Catalan universities and with a solid communications research
tradition that has led it to develop a broad-based teaching infrastructure.
For the 2009–2010 academic year, the UAB plans to launch an audio-
visual communication degree. Although the UAB recognises the need to
adapt to the professional demands implied by the EHEA, the head of stud-
ies, Norminanda Montoya,8 is very aware of the academic heritage and
teaching experience of the Faculty of Communication Sciences and, conse-
quently, defends the maintenance of a balance between academic and pro-
fessional demands in curriculum design.
The UPF and UVic have adopted a similar approach with the launch of
audio-visual communication degrees for the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010
academic years, respectively. Both these universities have been critical of
the excessively career-oriented focus of the EHEA reforms, arguing that
universities should mark a distance from the labour market so as to ensure
the existence of a framework for the kind of reflection and analysis that
professional life tends not to encourage, particularly in media-related
jobs.
Private sector requirements for audio-visual communication

graduates
To clarify the debate about the scope of an audio-visual communication
degree, we studied the university training requirements that communica-
tions companies stated as necessary for their sector. A major request was
for more technological and practical training for university students (80
per cent of the surveyed companies). Companies also asked for more train-
ing in business aspects of the media, claiming that students often had a
poor idea of different job roles, especially in sectors that require skills dif-
ferent from those associated with the traditional mass media. This require-
ment was considered to be particularly important by audio-visual
producers (90 per cent of the companies surveyed in this sector). As com-
mented by Norminanda Montoya, head of audio-visual communication
54 Marta Montagut

studies at the UAB,9 the fact that much audio-visual production is out- 9. Interviewed 14-04-
sourced means that future employees are likely to join small producers. 2008, UAB, Bellaterra
(Barcelona). This
This creates a demand for all-rounder job roles, and not just at the level of interview included the
audio-visual product creation (production, direction, scriptwriting and topic of focus group
editing) but also in production and management (that is, all the areas discussions with
academics and profes-
involved in the preparation and distribution of products). The audio-visual sionals as a means of
producers who responded to the survey corroborated this by stating that consultation in regard
the main tasks assigned to students on work experience programmes were to the design of new
degrees. One conclu-
in two main areas: production and management of audio-visual products, sion referred to the
and strictly technical functions (Table 2). growing importance
Tasks related to production (31.25 per cent), documentation (62.50 of small audio-visual
producers in the new
per cent) and administration (43.75 per cent) represented a significant media ecosystem.
proportion of the tasks performed by students, and also tasks strictly asso-
ciated with technology (50 per cent in editing, for example).
In the open question at the end of the questionnaire (in which companies
were asked to make specific requests to the universities), 70 per cent of the
audio-visual producers consulted asked for a better training balance between
creative and production aspects. Note that many of these producers are small
companies which have more work in production management than in the
creative area. Such small producers – like all the other communications com-
panies consulted – also requested more training in technology (80 per cent).
Nonetheless, company requests to universities need to be viewed in
perspective. The survey was conducted in order to obtain opinions from
the business sector with regard to audio-visual communication students
participating in work experience programmes. Most of the surveyed com-
panies, nonetheless, assigned tasks to students that were not directly
related to the creative phase in audio-visual production and which gener-
ally required less responsibility (Table 3).
The main tasks assigned to students were production (31.25 per cent),
documentation (33.33 per cent), editing (50 per cent) and other technical
(31.25 per cent) tasks. Tasks associated with scriptwriting, production
and direction represented less than 16 per cent of all the tasks done by
students. Communication companies, which are typically under pressure
from intensive production routines, provide minimal tutoring for students;
in our survey, only 12.5 per cent of students were assigned a specific tutor.
From our perspective, few companies seem to be aware of the fact that the
student on a work experience programme is not a fully fledged professional
but a trainee who needs guidance. In most of the companies surveyed,
students received little training but were, rather, expected to be fully oper-
ational and effective (90 per cent). In such circumstances, students are
unable to make systematic use of their theoretical and practical knowl-
edge, and not because they do not have this knowledge but because they
do not have the opportunity to exercise it; they are typically relegated to
tangential tasks in the audio-visual production process so that their actions
will have minimal repercussions on the company’s work flow in the event
of error. This cautious attitude of companies responds, in our opinion, to
two different but related factors:
• A lack of confidence in university training, which is frequently considered

to be unrelated to professional practice and overly broad-based.

Documentation 62.5 per cent
Technical Tasks: Editing 50 per cent
Administrative Tasks 43.75 per cent
Technical Tasks: Camera / Sound 31.25 per cent
Programme Production 31.25 per cent
Writing for Web 18.75 per cent
Graphic Design 12.5 per cent
Writing for Programmes 6.25 per cent
Live Production 6.25 per cent
News Production 0 per cent
Writing for News 0 per cent
Press 0 per cent
Presenter / Announcer 0 per cent
Source: Author.
Table 2: Students on work experience programmes: tasks assigned in audio-
visual production companies.
Technical Tasks: Editing 50 per cent
Documentation 33.33 per cent
Technical Tasks: Camera / Sound 31.25 per cent
Programme Production 31.25 per cent
Writing for Web 18.75 per cent
Graphic Design 12.5 per cent
Writing for Programmes 12.5 per cent
Writing for News 12.5 per cent
Administrative Tasks 11.25 per cent
Live Production 6.25 per cent
Press 8.33 per cent
News Production 0 per cent
Presenter / Announcer 0 per cent
Source: Author.
Table 3: Students on work experience programmes: tasks assigned in all the
surveyed companies.
56 Marta Montagut

• The need to test students with routine or standard tasks so as assess 10. Interviewed
11-01-2008, UOC,
their capacity to assume greater responsibility and to perform more Barcelona.
creative tasks. This reinforces a fairly widespread perception in the
audio-visual sector that students undertake university studies to open
doors in the labour market but that real experience is gained in learning-
by-doing in the workplace in accordance with a system of non-institu-
tionalised merits acquired through, what Ortega and Humanes called,
socialisation in the workplace (2000: 103).
Historically, disciplines such as journalism have been more associated

with values that are considered vocational or instinctive, rather than with
university training that focuses on acquiring the systematic knowledge
necessary to exercise the profession (Borrat 1990; Maxwell and Izard
1996; Ortega and Humanes 2000; Col.legi de Periodistes de Catalunya
2004). This same circumstance is reaffirmed and enhanced when it comes
to audio-visual communication. The wide range of possible career choices
and the fact that students learn a little bit of everything means that uni-
versity training is unable to guarantee direct entry to the world of work.
In fact, one of the most significant facts to arise from the survey was that
all the companies noticed a substantial difference between students with-
out and with previous work experience in terms of performance (75 per
cent of the surveyed companies).
From the companies’ perspective, the advantage of workplace training
rather than university training is that the former affords more control
over student learning and attitudes. Even though the responding compa-
nies generally evaluated students positively (77 per cent), a notable pro-
portion (25 per cent) rated as negative the fact that the students were
critical, most particularly in the audio-visual production sector.
The high level of demand for training in technology and in audio-
visual production and management, particularly among small producers,
reflects a strictly instrumental vision of training – a kind of training which
can, in fact, be obtained in non-university educational centres. University
training in communications should, in our opinion, go further in terms of
including knowledge of culture, context, etc. that legitimises the degree
both academically and professionally. A suitable balance between ‘know-
ing’ and ‘knowing how’ (Echevarría 2002) is undoubtedly the key to dif-
ferentiating between university and non-university training.
Theory-practice balance in curriculum design

The heads of studies interviewed came to similar conclusions in regard
to the need to balance practical knowledge – particularly technology –
and theoretical knowledge. All the interviews featured a common denomi-
nator in this respect: that it was this balance that marked the difference
between university and non-university training. As argued by Lluís Pastor,
of the UOC,10 audio-visual communication degree students need to under-
stand their work in terms of ‘why’, whereas other more professionally ori-
ented trainees simply need to know ‘what’. This difference is centred on
the intellectual and reflective content provided by university studies.
Even though striking a balance between theoretical and practical
knowledge in curriculum design seems to us to be appropriate in the face

11. Source: UCAS is of the uncertainties implied by the EHEA changes, we also feel that this
the Universities and
Colleges Admission
solution to the problem of defining and repositioning university audio-
Service operated by visual communication courses is more philosophical than real. The ques-
the United Kingdom tion remains, however: where precisely does that balance lie? The UOC
government that
makes available and
and UAB models serve as reference:
manages information
on public and private • The UOC has developed a degree that is very linked to business needs. The
tertiary level courses
(http://www.ucas.
theory element is based on these needs and on practical elements, and
com. Accessed 26 subjects that depart from labour market demands are avoided.
March 2009). • Even though it has broadened somewhat the practical content of its
course, the UAB has taken full advantage of its academic tradition to
develop a model that offers broad-based but strictly academic and theo-
retical training to mark its distinctiveness.
Prioritising practical knowledge and particularly the technologies in the

audio-visual communication syllabus arises, according to Carlos Scolari
(2005), from a de-professionalisation of media-makers. Digitalisation has
meant that production processes are simpler and that the possibilities for
manipulating audio-visual material are now infinite. Consequently, com-
panies consider that satisfactory technical training is sufficient training to
work in the media: with technology thus compensating for creative and
content gaps in the audio-visual product. This stance is confirmed by the
responses of some of the companies consulted (33 per cent), which indi-
cate a preference for advanced vocational education graduates to audio-
visual communication graduates, precisely because they are more
technologically adept and do not expect to carry out tasks that require
responsibility. For some authors this phenomenon is due to a historical
lack of confidence between media professionals and universities (Ortega
and Humanes 2000). However, basing a curriculum on technological
training would be, from our perspective, a perversion of the training aims
of the degree, as it would place the degree on the same level as vocational
education and professional schools with very different teaching aims.
However, in terms of content, to focus on analysis and reflection to the
detriment of practical elements – as has been the case in Spain – is coun-
terproductive in terms of ensuring labour market entry for graduates. No
other country in Europe, as far as we are aware, offers degree courses with
the breadthof audio-visual communication as Spain; rather, leaving aside
the theory-practice issue, universities offer courses focused both on theory
and research into the media (for example, the BA in Media Studies in the
UK) and on practical skills. We can also find professional schools that offer
courses strictly focused on one kind of platform (cinema, Internet, televi-
sion, etc.) or sector (journalism, advertising and publicity, etc.). French
university schools and official schools, for example, design curricula
according to the needs of professional associations and the companies with
which they have agreements (ANECA 2005: 71–78). The fact that the UK
offers around 500 different BA degrees covering the knowledge areas
addressed by the audio-visual communication course is highly illustrative
of this pragmatism.11
The curriculum proposal described in the ANECA white paper on com-
munication degrees (ANECA 2005) responds in part to the challenge of
58 Marta Montagut

maintaining a suitable balance between theory and practice while meet- 12. Source: DIUE is
the Innovation,
ing the requirements of the private sector; it recommends more practical University and
subjects in the area of the new technologies, less training in different plat- Industry Department
forms, more across-the-board training, and greater specificity by reducing (Departament
d’Innovació, Universitat
content associated with journalism, advertising, publicity and public rela- I Empresa) of the
tions. Nonetheless, the traditional divide between the three branches of Catalan autonomous
communications (journalism, audio-visual communication and advertis- government that pub-
lished the admission
ing, publicity and public relations) is perpetuated, and debate on the suit- figures of the public
ability of the audio-visual communication concept in delineating this university (http://
degree is avoided. www.gencat.cat/diue.
Accessed 26 March
2009).
Audio-visual communication as a brand: advantages and
drawbacks
The recommendation of the Conference of Communication Deans
(Conferencia Española de Decanos de Comunicación, 2008) – representing
Spanish public universities – was to maintain the distinction between, and
the titles of, the three traditional communication degrees. The guidelines
described in the ANECA white paper on communications degrees (ANECA
2005) also adopted this stance. It was quite obvious that debate on the
suitability of the three titles was avoided. This was criticised by ANECA
itself (ANECA 2006): in its assessment of this white paper it stated that the
division was not justified given similarities in content, competences and
job roles. There are, in our opinion, two major reasons for retaining audio-
visual communication as a degree course, namely, the need to avoid large-
scale structural changes and the success of the audio-visual communication
brand according to the admission figures of the last ten years in
Catalonia.12
• Adapting curricula to the requirements of the EHEA has led to a broad-

based debate in all the Catalan public universities. Academic staff in the
UPF were among the first to express their reticence about the Bologna
guidelines, particularly in how they invade teaching autonomy. In
the UAB, a lack of communication between bodies in the Faculty of
Communication Sciences has led to a delay in drawing up a new degree
proposal. The UB and the UdL are strongly conditioned by their con-
texts, in that their communication courses depend on departments not
directly associated with this discipline and so draw on teaching staff from
other academic fields. As for the URL and the UIC, as private universities
their adaptation is far more flexible and less problematic. For this rea-
son, degree conversion in private universities, and especially in the UOC
and the URL, has been more radical than in public universities, leading
to major structural changes (as in the UOC) or changes to more specific
titles and curricula (as in the URL).
• Audio-visual communication as a title for tertiary level studies has
been a clear draw for students in the last fifteen years. University
demand in Spain is regulated on the basis of a student academic report
that is summarised as a single grade. Admission to the audio-visual
communication degree has required grades ranging from 7.97 (UAB)
to 8.48 (UPF) of a maximum of 10 (DUIE 2008). On this basis, and
as pointed out by Bernat López, head of the Communication Studies

13. Interviewed Department of the URV,13 there was no need for universities to change
22-02-2008, URV,
Tarragona.
a course that was clearly popular and successful in quantitative terms.
It would seem obvious that private universities need to offer a clearly
14. Interviewed 19-12-
2008, UIC, Barcelona.
differentiated product in order to compete with the public universi-
ties, which charge lower fees and offer greater prestige. The changes
15. Interviewed 09-01- in the case of the URL and the UOC respond to their specific market-
2008, UVic, Vic
(Barcelona). ing strategy, according to heads of studies interviewed. Nonetheless,
Salvador Aragonès, head of studies for the audio-visual communica-
16. This denomination,
used by the UAB in tion degree at the UIC,14 is of the opinion that the battle is likely to be
drawing up curricula ultimately fought with master’s degrees offering specific training in, for
for communication example, communication and fashion or sports journalism. Eva Caro,
degrees, seems appro-
priate for the purpose head of studies at UVic,15 indicates that her university has opted to
of debating on the market itself as offering studies very linked to the new technologies,
knowledge areas spe- such as web design or online journalism, although remaining under
cific to audio-visual
communication. the umbrella of audio-visual communication studies. From our point
of view, maintenance of the brand prevents debate on the suitability
not only of the concept as delimiting a degree but also of the content
of the course and of the skills to be taught. The justification for the
degree, given by the white paper on communication studies and the
Conference of Communication Deans, was its adaptation to the needs
of the market. We beg to differ, as the results of our survey – with 60
per cent of surveyed companies not drawing any distinction between
journalists and audio-visual communicators and 20 per cent doing so
in accordance with their specific needs – indicate that the hybridisa-
tion between these job roles makes rethinking the skills to be developed
by the audio-visual communication degree necessary.
Delimiting an educational and professional field

The solution to the problem of a lack of definition in the audio-visual com-
munication degree arises when we reflect on ‘differential competences’,16
that is, the set of knowledge and skills that defines this course and differen-
tiates it from other tertiary level communication courses.
Some heads of studies interviewed (the UIC and the UdL) have
emphasised technology as a specific component of their degrees.
According to these heads of studies, knowledge and intensive use of the
ICTs mark the difference between audio-visual communication and
other communication degrees. However, digital tools are widely used in
all areas of activity of media companies, which means that all commu-
nication graduates of necessity have to have basic training in the use of
ICTs. We fully agree with David Domingo (2003) in his argument that
digital journalists need to be fully familiar with the technical and expres-
sive possibilities of the ICTs so as to be able to adapt their content to any
platform. Castelló and Avià (2004: 133) also insist on the need for all jour-
nalists to have advanced technological skills, irrespective of their role in
the creation of information products – and the same applies to all the
professional profiles associated with the communications media. After
all, the universal application of technology in almost all areas of knowl-
edge has converted technical competence into a core skill; consequently,
graduate technical competence is not, in our opinion, a differentiating
factor in audio-visual communication; rather, it should be considered
60 Marta Montagut

an across-the-board skill common to all university courses associated
with the media.
Other heads of studies (UPF, URL and UAB) point to creative capacity
as a competence specific to audio-visual communication. This also appears
to us to be insufficient as a defining factor, firstly because creativity is not
exclusive to audio-visual communication (consider, for example, job roles
in creative areas of advertising and publicity), and secondly, because not
all audio-visual communication graduate profiles fit with this premise.
Media production routines do not necessarily require creativity for each
and every one of the phases of construction of the media product.
Another differentiating factor referred to by some heads of studies (UB
and UVic) is breadth. It is evident that this competence very adequately
reflects the training provided in the audio-visual communication course;
however, it is also a feature of the journalism and the advertising, public-
ity and public relations degrees. In our opinion, although certainly an
important aspect of audio-visual communication, breadth is yet another
example of a competence that is more across-the-board than specific.
Finally, other heads of studies specify differential competences from a
traditional perspective (URL, UAB and UIC). The profession of audio-visual
communicator has traditionally belonged in television, video and cinema –
typically the areas of entertainment and fiction. This has been a suitably
convenient way to define the degree; however, as illustrated above, radical
changes in the media context in recent years – with many new platforms
(mobile phones, palmtop computers, the Internet, etc.) – combined with
the hybridisation of communication genres have rendered this demarca-
tion obsolete.
Faced with the difficulty of establishing differential skills for audio-vis-
ual communication, we propose two models for converting existing degrees
to the EHEA model: firstly, on the basis of making a complete break with
the traditional divide between the three branches of communication, and
secondly (and possibly more in line with Spanish legislation), retaining the
existing model but incorporating greater professional specificity.
1. A single communications degree and specific masters’

courses
Our first option – very similar to the UOC approach – is based on creating
a single communications degree, thereby breaking with the traditional
distinction between audio-visual communication, journalism, and adver-
tising, publicity and public relations. This structure would appear to
respond to the general requirements of companies, which, according to
our survey, seek professionals who have all-round skills and knowledge
rather than specialists in one of the three communication areas. We would
also recommend including a general introduction to media research in
this degree in order to: equip it with academic legitimacy; mark a distinc-
tion from non-university training; and highlight the role of researchers as
essential, not only for academia but also as a point of contact between the
university and the media worlds (Vara and Calvo 2003; Cebrián 2007).
Consequently, following the model proposed by Antoni Pérez-Portabella
(2003), we propose training in the following five areas: (1) audio-visual
technology, (2) audio-visual expression forms, (3) communication genres
CJCS_1.1_05_art_Montagut_47-66.indd 61 7/1/09 5:48:59 PM

(information, persuasion, entertainment, etc.), (4) audio-visual production
and management, and (5) media research. In this way, the audio-visual
communication degree would incorporate differential competences while
respecting the generalist and professional concepts required of the EHEA
degree.
Professional specificity could be obtained in one or both of two ways:
• By developing professional specialisation pathways in the second half of

the degree through the inclusion of elective subjects. Students could thus
specialise in a chosen pathway and so acquire a differential competence
that would facilitate their labour market entry. Pathways, which could be
developed in accordance with the teaching merits and strengths of each
university, could be mapped out in terms of specific platforms (cinema,
television, radio, Internet, etc.), specific genres (information, persuasion,
fiction, etc.) or job roles corresponding to the development of an audio-
visual product (producer, manager, accounts executive, director, adver-
tising creative, scriptwriter, contents creator, etc.).
• By offering specialist masters’ courses that allow graduates to pursue
further studies and providing more specific training in terms of special-
isms that would facilitate labour market entry. Masters’ courses would
need to be based on direct contact with media companies so as to ensure
suitable training and would also need to act as a doorway to academic
research that could, in turn, lead to doctoral studies. These masters’
courses should be coherent with the specialisation pathways offered in
the degree; thus, for example, if undergraduate pathways were mapped
according to specific platforms, masters’ courses would need to offer
training in the other genres and/or job roles. This approach represents
a three-way training combination that would result in very specific
career roles determined on the basis of intensive and two-way dialogue
between the university and the private sector.
2. Retention of existing degrees and creation of specialisation

pathways
Although the previous proposal seems to us to be more coherent, we also
need to take into account the context in which EHEA degree conversion is
taking place. Spanish universities have opted to maintain the existing
structure of three communication degrees – audio-visual communication,
journalism and advertising, publicity and public relations – based on the
recommendations of both the white paper on communications degrees
(ANECA 2005) and the Conference of Communication Deans (Conferencia
Española de Decanos de Comunicación 2008). This was the option that was
finally adopted by the URV’s Communication Studies Department for new
degrees, and will be launched in the 2009–2010 academic year.
The fact of having to design a curriculum for the URV’s Communication
Studies Department enabled us to practically apply the results of our
research. We departed from a tried-and-tested structure but took into
account the ceiling in terms of staff imposed by an upper limit to public
funding. Given these conditioning factors, we proposed two specialist
pathways – production/management and audio-visual creativity – based
on specific elective subjects for each of the three degrees and incorporating
62 Marta Montagut

an option for subjects from other degrees to be included in some of the
pathways. These pathways are directly relevant to audio-visual communi-
cation, where the differentiation between tasks is very evident in product
creation. The pathways are also equally relevant to advertising, publicity
and public relations, reflecting as they do the professions of advertising
creative and accounts executive. Finally, the pathways are also relevant to
journalism as a profession, with some authors defending more specific
careers such as the journalist-editor, the content creator and the journalist-
producer-manager (Castelló and Avià 2004:133). In terms of overall
coherence, in our favour was the fact that a curriculum was already oper-
ational (valid until the new degree is launched) that takes into account
many supports and registers, and which is perfectly integrated with the
use of the ICTs.
The two specialisation pathways described above – based on the two
main components in the audio-visual production process – seemed to us to
be a logical choice for the degrees offered by the Communication Studies
Department of the URV. Other universities applying the traditional three-
degree formula are likely to opt for pathways that reflect each university’s
academic and research track record. Ultimately, however, the design of
undergraduate degree curricula will need to take into account the mas-
ters’ courses that the EHEA proposes as a definitive step towards profes-
sional specialisation.
Concluding comment
The road ahead for Catalan universities is a potentially rocky one. Conversion
to the EHEA degree system, first of all, implies funding problems – and this
will particularly affect public universities. Further difficulties will arise in
terms of the changes required in teaching methodologies and striking a
conceptual balance in degrees that need to be broad-based yet profession-
ally oriented. Finally, adaptation will take place against a background of
inherent bureaucratic inertia. Ultimately the only way ahead is to seek
practical and imaginative solutions. As pointed out by Francesc Vilallonga,
head of audio-visual communication studies at the URL, it will ultimately
be the universities and labour market which will judge whether or not the
conversion to a more professionally oriented university system is success-
ful. It would therefore be interesting to repeat this research in about six
years, by which time the new undergraduate and postgraduate system is
expected to be fully functional in Catalonia and with graduates already
making their way in the world of work.
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which studies leading to degrees in audiovisual communications, in journalism and
in advertising, publicity and public relations are authorised. Official Bulletin of the
Generalitat of Catalonia (DOGC) No. 1723 of 19 March 1993.
Martí, J. M., Bonet, M., Montagut, M. and Pérez-Portabella, A. (2006), ‘Els estudis
universitaris de Comunicació Audio-visual als Països Catalans’, Treballs de
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Maxwell, J. and Izard, R. (1996), ‘Bridging the gap. Professional journalists and
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Accessed 4 April 2008.
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education is organised’, Boletín Oficial del Estado, 260 of 30 October 2007.
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Memoria de titularidad, Tarragona: Unitat Predepartamental de Comunicació de
la URV.
64 Marta Montagut

Pérez-Portabella, A., Bonet, M. and Martí, J. M. (2004), ‘El papel emergente de la
comunicación audio-visual en los entornos formativos’, Actas II Congreso Online
del Observatorio de la Cibersociedad, http://www.cibersociedad.net/congres2004/
grups/fitxacom_publica2.php?grup=98&id=181. Accessed 10 September 2007.
Ràfols, F. (1996), ’Sis mil periodistes s’han format a Bellaterra. La Facultat de
Ciències de la Comunicació de l’Autònoma compleix vint-i-cinc anys’, Capçalera,
72, pp. 5–25.
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para los estudios de recepción’, Anàlisi. Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura, 30,
Barcelona: UAB, pp. 17–36.
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histórica y panorama actual’, Comunicar. Revista Científica Iberoamericana de
Comunicación y Educación, Vol. 29. Huelva: Grupo Comunicar, pp. 32-48.
Scolari, C. (ed) (2005), ‘Comunicació Digital. Competències professionals i reptes
academics’, ICOD, Red iberoamericana de comunicación digital, UVic, http://www.
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Comunicación: del desencuentro al entendimiento’ in C. Barrera del Barrio
et al. (eds), La comunicación: industria, comunicación y profesión, Madrid: Edipo,
pp. 505–511.
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Ciencias de la Información, Barcelona: Mitre.
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Suggested citation
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European Higher Education Area system in Catalonia’, Catalan Journal of
Contributor details
Marta Montagut holds an MA in Audio-visual Communication by the Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 1995–1999. Currently, she is Ph.D. student in
Communication Studies at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) where
she teaches the subject ‘audio-visual language theory and practice’ (2004–2009).
She has been a member of the Communication Catalan Society of the Catalan
Studies Institute (IEC) in Barcelona from 2004 to 2008. From her professional
career, can be mentioned: director and presenter of the youth radio programme
‘Scratch’, COM Radio radiostation, Barcelona, 1999–2007, and producer and pre-
senter of the morning magazine radio programme ‘El Matí de Tarragona de Radio’,
Tarragona Radio radiostation, Tarragona, 2002–2005.
Contact: Department of Communication Studies, Rovira i Virgili University,
Campus Centre, Av. Catalunya 35. Edifici Departaments. Desp. 324, 43002-
Tarragona (Spain).
Tel: +34 977 299 436
E-mail: marta.montagut@urv.cat

International Journal of
Digital Television
ISSN 2040-4182 (3 issues | Volume 1, 2010)
Aims and Scope

Editors
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Catalan public diplomacy, soft power,

and noopolitik: A public relations
approach to Catalonia’s governance
Jordi Xifra Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Abstract Keywords
In this article, we provide a brief introduction to stateless nation-building and stateless
public diplomacy based on the case of Catalonia. On the basis of Manuel Castells’ nation-building
idea of informational society and the concepts of soft power of Joseph S. Nye, and public diplomacy
‘noopolitik’ of John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, we show the rich contribution of public relations
these phenomena in understanding the theory and practice of public diplomacy of noopolitik
non-state actors, such as stateless nations, in order to build their national identity. soft power
Furthermore, when we talk about public diplomacy, soft power and noopolitik, we informational society
are talking about governance rather than government (diplomacy, hard power and
‘realpolitik’). Accordingly, we suggest that a noopolitikal model of public relations
can contribute to effective governance for both public and private actors. Through
some examples of the current policies in Catalonia, this article advances a public
relations approach to governance.
Introduction
In recent years, public relations scholars have taken an interest in the role
of public relations in nation building and have investigated the nation
building process from a public relations standpoint (e.g., Taylor 2000a,
2000b; Taylor and Kent 2006). This research, however, did not take into
account the crisis of the nation state (Castells 2008), the duality between
the concept of nation and the concept of state, and the different forms of
relationship between both. As Castells stated,
Any detached observation shows that in modern times there are nations,
there are states and there are different types of relationship between both:
nations without state, nation states, multinational states and imperial nation
states that absorb different nations by force.
(Castells 2008: 15)
We can add states with shared nations (e.g. North and South Korea), states
without nations (e.g. Andorra or Singapore), and nationalist movements.
By not considering this situation, the public relations approach to
nation-building has been conducted, in our opinion, from a limited per-
spective, mainly for three reasons: (1) it has focused on the idea of legal
nation (the nation state), ignoring the idea of cultural nation, and therefore
CJCS_1.1_06_art_Xifra_61-80.indd 67 7/1/09 12:22:55 PM

excluding other forms of nation-building such as those in nations without
state; (2) it has disregarded the crucial issues of a new international order
and, in particular, globalization; and (3) accordingly, it has attached little
importance to public diplomacy and other forms of building relationships
with foreign publics – such as those developed by territories other than
those of nation states – better known as public paradiplomacy.
As Kymlicka (2001) pointed out, national minorities tend to respond
to the nation-building of the majority by adopting their own nation-
building alternatives. They often use the same tactics and tools that the
national majority uses to promote this nation-building (e.g., control over
language and teaching, or the design of domestic borders). Both nations
and states are being continuously built and rebuilt. We live in a globalized
world in which the state, while not disappearing, is in the throes of major
change.
This is providing opportunities for the construction of new systems of social

regulation and collective action below and beyond the state, but these new
systems take on a variety of forms. One of these is revived minority national-
ism in territories where there is a historic sense of identity, an institutional
legacy and a political leadership able to construct a new system.
(Keating 2001: 41)
This process is what Keating (1997) dubbed ‘stateless nation-building’,

i.e., the building of new or renewed imagined communities (Anderson
1983) and collective action systems. One type of such communities is the
stateless nation (Guibernau 1999). Catalonia, like Scotland, Wales,
Flanders and Quebec, is ‘a stateless nation’ (Castells 2004: 45).
The process of nation-building is different from the process of institu-
tional building through two specific elements: the creation of national
identity and national unity (Taylor and Kent 2006). In contrast, the state-
less nation-building process requires greater institutionalization and does
not require any kind of national unity in the political sense of the term,
since there is no state that agglutinates this unity. In fact, as Keating has
observed (2001), the stateless nation-building process is based on three
paramount elements: identity, the creation of institutions, and the global
dimension. These three elements are underpinned by the fact that stateless
nations claim the right to be acknowledged as political actors and to have
a voice in different forums, access to which hitherto has been limited to
nation states. However, as Guibernau (1999) recalls, the recognition of
stateless nations as political actors does not necessarily mean that they
will obtain independence. Some nationalisms do not even seek this,
whereby they call them ‘inclusive’ (Hargreaves and Ferrando 1997).
This study is a public relations approach to stateless nation-building
through a specific public relations function: public diplomacy (Signitzer
and Wamser 2006), as nation-building processes focus increasingly more
on the building of relationships with foreign publics. As Taylor and Kent
(2006: 356) concluded: ‘Communication for national development also
includes public diplomacy practices’.
Linked to the works of Castells (2000a, 2000b, 2001, 2004), Nye
(2002, 2004), and Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1999), on the informational
68 Jordi Xifra

society, soft power, and noopolitik, respectively (these concepts will be
discussed later), the purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of public
relations and public diplomacy in stateless nation-building processes. We
have drawn from the public diplomacy efforts of one of the most singular
stateless nations, Catalonia, to overcome the problems derived from the
absence of a state of its own, with the view to building an international
reputation and transmitting its national identity abroad. The Catalan
model will also help in a noopolitikal approach to public diplomacy and
public relations based on the notions of soft power (Nye 2002, 2004) and
noopolitik (Arquilla and Ronfeldt 1999).
Strengths and weakness of stateless nations: The case of

Catalonia
When Franco died in 1975, Spain evolved into a democratic and decen-
tralized state, which is defined in the Constitution of 1978. In 1977, the
Generalitat (the official name given to the autonomous political institutions
in Catalonia, made up of the Parliament, the President, the Executive
Council, the High Court and the Ombudsman) was provisionally restored
with its exiled president, Josep Tarradellas, who returned to Barcelona in
October of that year. In 1979, The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia was
approved, making the restoration of self-government possible. In 1986,
Spain joined the European Union, where Catalonia proposed the recogni-
tion of the role of the regions as a driving force for economic development
and social welfare. Therefore, 41 years after the abolition by Franco of
Catalonia’s political and national institutions, the people of Catalonia wit-
nessed the restoration of a democratically elected Parliament, Government
and President.
Today, Catalonia has one of the highest levels of self-government in
Spain, and the Generalitat is basically sovereign in healthcare and educa-
tion (law and administration), police forces, trade, industry, tourism and
agriculture. The region has gradually been allowed to use tax revenues as
a source of autonomous funding – a mainstream issue which has been
controversial for Catalan politicians as Catalan taxes amount to 1/3 of
national income tax, and have been redistributed by the central adminis-
tration in Madrid. In addition, Catalonia has, along with a few other
regions, a special status in questions of language and culture. The regional
language, Catalan, is co-official with Spain’s official language (Spanish).
The funding of Catalonia is the main problem of its stateless nation
status, since this conditions its government’s capacity for action. But it is
not the only one. Guibernau (2002) also highlights the lack of cultural
and political recognition of the Catalan nation. Catalonia is not recognized
as a nation, either in Spain or inside the European Union, or in the inter-
national arena. From this last standpoint, Catalonia is in a position of infe-
riority and one of automatic exclusion ‘because its representatives are not
fully represented in international forums’ (Guibernau 2002: 260). This
situation is compounded by another fact, one of special relevance: the
complex nature of an international system framed within what has been
called the ‘informational society’ (Castells 2000a: 21), which conditions
the projection and international insertion of states, establishing changes
in the traditional origin of sources of power.
Catalan public diplomacy, soft power, and noopolitik 69

In this context, for stateless nations it is crucial the existence of a
national development process, which, through an efficacious foreign pol-
icy, includes a strategy for the establishment and maintenance of rela-
tions with foreign publics (and that responds to the needs of the
construction of a national and institutional identity in the international
arena). In this regard, Catalonia has made major public diplomacy efforts,
since, as Keating recalls (1996), while the separatist feeling of the
Catalans is weak, in Catalonia there is a major commitment to the pro-
motion of the Catalan nation as a different national society inside and
outside Spain.
Catalan public diplomacy: An introduction

The idea of stateless nation-building adapts more to nationalities where
identity and internal solidarity are very strong and makes it possible to
create political forces that are able to channel the stateless-nation’s
demands abroad. For this reason, the politics of stateless nation-building
do not require a foreign policy mimicking traditional diplomacy (Keating
1997). Rather, they require an external policy that targets specific parts of
the world and actors, and focuses on specific objectives.
The Generalitat ‘acts as a quasi-state’ (Guibernau 2002: 127) since it
has autonomous institutions and a substantial number of competences
that have been transferred to its autonomous Parliament by the Spanish
government. Nevertheless, no ‘quasi-state’ has had the management of its
foreign policy devolved to it. For this reason, non-centre governments,
such as the Generalitat and other organizations with a powerful national
identity symbolism, also develop public relations activities to build an
international reputation as nations without states. Consequently, new
actors emerge in building relationships between non-centre governments
and foreign publics.
Thus, diplomacy is no longer the privilege of nation states. Soldatos
(1990, 1993) was one of the first scholars who attempted to come up with
a name or label to identify this ensemble of rather diverse forms of non-state
diplomacy. He first coined the term ‘paradiplomacy’, an abbreviation of
‘parallel diplomacy’, that is, the foreign policy of non-central governments
(Aldecoa and Keating 1999; Boyer 2001). The concept was later dissemi-
nated in the academic literature via the writings of Duchacek (1990).
Since 1945, international politics have become much more complex.
Gradually, new non-state actors have entered the international scene
(Arts et al. 2001). Some of these non-state actors are of a non-territorial
nature; for instance non-governmental organizations, multinational cor-
porations or sports organizations. Others, such as the nations without
state, have a territorial nature.
Catalan public diplomacy has been well recognized by academic observ-
ers and analysts (Garcia 1998; Aldecoa and Keating 1999; Loughlin
2000). Indeed, the Catalan government has been very active in foreign
relations, in particular thanks to the direct involvement of its unrelenting
and longstanding former President, Jordi Pujol. For Pujol, Catalonia’s
international projection was indispensable for the development of both the
basic axes of political Catalan nationalism: the defense of national identity
and the promotion of Catalonia’s economic interests (Garcia 1998).
70 Jordi Xifra

First of all, the defense of the Catalan national identity entails the very
opposite of acting as a closed organization; it means opening up. To defend
its national identity, Catalonia should seek to conquer its own international
space. Secondly, Pujol considered that international activity was an eco-
nomic necessity for Catalonia on the basis of the imperative of international
competitiveness. The Catalan government should seek to modernize the
Catalan economy and the way to do so, in a global and interdependent con-
text, was through its internationalization. Consequently, one of the priority
activities for accomplishing this objective was to inform the international
community of the competitive advantages of Catalonia. Pujol also high-
lighted another characteristic of the foreign activity of non-state actors: ‘the
privatization of roles’ (Garcia 1998: 146). In other words, major space should
be afforded to civil society and collaboration with the latter should be under-
taken; this will create a positive environment for its international projection.
After 23 years under the presidency of Jordi Pujol, the 2003 elections
gave rise to major changes in the configuration of the government of
Catalonia. The new president, Pasqual Maragall, the leader of the Partit
Socialista de Catalunya (PSC, the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist
party, PSOE), became the new president of the Generalitat, albeit govern-
ing in coalition with the independent Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
(ERC) and the former communist and green party (ICV-EUiA). This ‘tripar-
tite’ government was re-elected in November 2006, this time with a new
president, José Montilla, who appointed one of the leaders of ERC, Josep
Lluís Carod-Rovira, Vice-President of the Generalitat, with specific powers
to represent the government of Catalonia abroad.
Despite the change that took place following the advent of the ‘tripar-
tite’ government, the principle of international projection defended by
Pujol was upheld, albeit with a greater degree of institutionalisation and
organization. While Pujol promoted foreign trips by the president of the
Generalitat, the new structure of the government of Catalonia includes a
Vice-Presidency structured on the basis of Catalonia’s international pro-
motion – to the extent that a Vice-Ministry of foreign affairs has been cre-
ated to afford greater exposure to Catalonia’s foreign action.
This intense activity of institutionalising the international presence of
the government of Catalonia is underpinned by two main axes: the strength-
ening of the Catalan casals (Catalan Communities Abroad: CCA) and the
creation of delegations of the Government of Catalonia (para-embassies) in the
world’s main countries.
The Catalan government, besides creating a Vice-Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, actively promotes the action of civil society ‘ambassadors’ of
Catalonia abroad. While Catalonia did not have diplomatic representation
abroad, casals have engaged in outstanding work targeting the interna-
tional projection of Catalan identity.
‘Catalan Communities Abroad’ is the term which has been used to des-
ignate private groups of Catalan and foreign people the world over (casals,
Catalan centres, academic and business groups, etc.) that the Catalan gov-
ernment has recognized officially. The main objectives of these bodies are
to promote Catalonia in civil society and to provide support for Catalan
nationals living outside Catalonia. At present, they essentially provide a
cultural window on Catalonia in the lands in which they are set up.

1. Press release of The creation of ‘embassies’ is the most evident embodiment of Catalan
the Department of
Vice-Presidency
public diplomacy. In this regard, under the Montilla government, two
(15 May 2008). branches have been opened in Berlin and London, and a third in New
Retrieved from York. As the Vice-President, Carod-Rovira, stated, the branches of the
http://www20.
gencat.cat/portal/
government of the Generalitat abroad were conceived to ‘project our plural
site/SalaPremsa/ reality to the world’ and the ‘national character’ of Catalonia, and he
menuitem.342fe435- emphasised that Catalonia ‘will exercise’ the powers of foreign action con-
5e0205d607d7ed42
b0c0e1a0/?vgnextoi
ferred by the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.1
d=f60f88c0b054901
0VgnVCM1000000b Sport and tourism as main soft power resources
0c1e0aRCRD&vgnext
channel=f60f88c0b0
According to L’Etang et al. (2007), nation states use public relations,
549010VgnVCM100 including public diplomacy, for wider purposes than the promotion and
0000b0c1e0aRCRD& marketing of tourism. This assertion may be extended, and with even
vgnextfmt=detall&co
ntentid=86cada1c01
greater foundation, to stateless nations that use sport and tourism for
de9110VgnVCM100 international projection. Catalonia is no exception, quite the contrary.
0008d0c1e0aRCRD. Catalan public paradiplomacy has found, in sport and tourism, ideal fields
Accessed 9 December
2008.
for transmitting an identity and building an international reputation. The
foreign action of the Catalan government has focused on the notion of
‘sports country’: a concept through which the idea and the perception of a
country are achieved in foreign targets, and which cannot be achieved
through purely political and bureaucratic actions. But while the idea of
‘sports country’ is still in its more emerging phase and is not internation-
ally recognized by sports organizations, the symbolic power of Catalonia is
articulated through civil society and one of the organizations with the
greatest symbolic significance in the region: Fútbol Club Barcelona (FCB)
(Xifra 2008). In fact, many of the CCA facilities are also used for FCB fan
club meetings abroad.
In the absence of a Catalan soccer team, Barça (as it is popularly
known) takes on the role of national ambassador of Catalonia, more influ-
ential in the creation of identity and reputation than the Catalan govern-
ment and its regional diplomacy efforts. L’Etang included national identity
within the tourism domains for analysis, and pointed out, as teaching and
research opportunities, ‘the role of public relations in building national
identity through success in elite sport’ (2006: 248). As has already been
said, Taylor and Kent (2006) have also underlined public diplomacy efforts
among the different public relations strategies in the processes of identity
and nation-building. The efforts made by the government of Catalonia,
directly or through FCB, confirm these assertions.
This phenomenon is a good illustration of the notion of soft power
coined by Nye (2002, 2004). This concept, closer to the Bourdieu’s
(1986) notion of symbolic capital, may be summarized as the capacity to
get others to aspire to what we aspire to. Nye (2004) elaborates his con-
cept in contrast to the traditional conception of power (hard power), a
vision which pointed to military force, economic capacity and the poten-
tialities derived from them as the most genuine expression of the power
of a state. Counterpoised to this standpoint, which reduces power to pat-
ently material and quantifiable elements (most of them stemming from
political initiative and subject to the latter’s direct control), Nye (2002,
2004) emphasizes the existence of another series of immaterial factors
which cannot always be controlled by the government but which can,
72 Jordi Xifra

however, contribute as much as or more than military and economic 2. For more details
see http://www.
coercion to achieve the goals set by a nation. The popularity of the artis- seleccions.cat/
tic, musical and cinematographic output of a country, its scientific and
educational prestige, its tourist appeal, its capacity to export fashion and
trends, quality of life, its gastronomy and its sporting prestige, among
others factors, are elements with an increasing capacity to mobilize ini-
tiatives. It is an indirect way of exerting power: a country can obtain the
results it seeks so that other countries can follow suite, admiring its val-
ues, following its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and open-
ness (Nye 2002). From this perspective, the practice of public relations is
a strong soft power type. According to Wang (2006: 91), ‘national repu-
tation is one clear indication of a nation’s power’, and, as Mercer (1996)
noted, it reflects and affects the country’s standing in the global arena.
Non-central governments, such as the Generalitat, build their identity
and their reputation through public paradiplomacy communication,
because public paradiplomacy is a non-centre government process of
communicating with foreign publics.
In the case of Catalonia, despite having its own language and culture,
the sports image of the country, which peaked with the organization of
the 1992 Olympic Games, has been the main indicator of Catalan soft
power. The sports policy of the government of Catalonia has become its
main system for building relationships with foreign publics.
The Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (UFEC, Union of Sports
Federations of Catalonia) is one of the most active governmental agents in
claiming the international recognition of Catalan sports. The UFEC is a
non-profit private sports association, of public and social interest, set up by
the Generalitat in 1985 with a view to coordinating and promoting the
sports federations of Catalonia. According to the Catalan Sports Law, one
of the UFEC’s functions is precisely to establish relations with all kinds of
sports organizations for foreign promotion and to foster the activity of the
Catalan national teams (e.g., soccer, hockey, bowling) and the institution-
alisation of competitions between autonomous or international communi-
ties to drive the projection of Catalonia outside its borders.2
As Ayuso and Bayo (2002) pointed out, Catalan society, both in the
business sector and civil society organized into non-profit organizations,
has an international vocation with roots that predate the impetus given
by the institutions. The Catalan government supports this initiative, and
even more so in the sports area, for the aforementioned reasons. The
Catalan political and sports context not only responds to the historic
claims of nationalists and separatists for having Catalan national teams
different from the Spanish ones, but has also served to foster and strengthen
the civil actors and interest groups which, under the slogan ‘Una nació,
una selecció’ (‘One nation, one team’), have called for the existence of these
national sports teams.
The main non-governmental actor is the Plataforma Pro Seleccions
Esportives Catalanes (PSEC, Platform for National Catalan Sports Teams).
It is a non-profit association created on 5 May 1998 to achieve the
international recognition of Catalan national sports teams. Its first sig-
nificant activity was a petition for signatures from the citizens of
Catalonia in order to lobby, through a popular legislative initiative, the

3. Retrieved from http:// Parliament of Catalonia for it to amend the Sports Law in order to drive
www.seleccions.
cat/new/index.php.
the Catalan federations closer to definitive international recognition.
Accessed: 14/2/2008. The campaign collected more than one million signatures, the law was
4. Source: La Vanguardia,
amended and the PSEC decided to cease further activities in this
7 April 2007, p. 14. regard.
However, on realising that no significant progress had been made with
regard to the international recognition of the national teams – according
to the current platform, due to the ‘ineffectiveness of Catalan politicians’–3
in 2005 the platform decided to resume its role for the promotion of
national Catalan teams in order to reactivate the popular claim for the
right of the Catalan federations to recognition by the respective interna-
tional federations. To accomplish its end, the PSEC enjoys the full support
of the current Catalan government, which provided it with funding to the
value of 2.59 million Euros between 2004 and 2006.4
However, despite the existence of these actors in Catalan civil society,
Barça continues to be the most efficient transmitter of the image of
Catalonia for attracting foreign publics. Certainly, the most significant
efforts made by Fútbol Club Barcelona (FCB) as an ambassador for
Catalonia have targeted the tourism and economic promotion of the
‘Catalunya’ brand (Catalonia, in Catalan). Thus, like most of the major
football clubs, FCB annually organizes international tours during the
pre-season in regions regarded as emerging in football terms but which
are economically developed (North America, South America, South East
Asia), and which afford major football clubs most important economic
benefits. In the case of Barça, these tours have been conducted with the
sponsorship of the Catalan government, which has institutionalized FCB
and its symbolic charge as Catalonia’s ultimate identity and reputation
builder in the world.
The promotion of the Catalonia brand does not just focus on the rela-
tionship between Barça and the government. The Strategic Plan for
Tourism in Catalonia 2005–2010, spearheaded by the Generalitat, has
envisaged a series of efforts with this objective. One of the axes of the
Strategic Plan is the development and consolidation of the Catalonia tour-
ist brand as different, diverse and as a high-value added destination. The
accomplishment of this goal is addressed through a series of actions such
as the establishment of a communication policy for the ‘international pro-
jection of Catalonia’ (Generalitat de Catalunya 2006: 384).
However, the international scenario is like a spider’s web: a small
tremor at any of its ends is eventually transmitted throughout the entire
web. Global interdependence explains how all the facets of reality (politi-
cal, economic, social, cultural etc.) are united through a loose and mobile
connection which means that the sources of wealth and social power are
constantly changing hands, places and origins (Castells 2000b). The basis
of this global network is the ‘noosphere’, i.e., knowledge (Arquilla and
Ronfeldt 1999). The management of this knowledge and its constituent
elements (channels for the reception and dissemination of information,
‘factories’ and ‘intermediaries’ of ideas, image and opinion-creation cen-
tres) will decide who will occupy the main nodes of this grid-like system
constantly traversed by flows of knowledge, tangible or intangible capi-
tals, goods and people (Castells 2001).
74 Jordi Xifra

Public diplomacy, soft power, and noopolitik
The breakthroughs in new communication technologies have given rise to
the conformation of the knowledge society, where the appropriation, man-
agement and transmission of ideas and know-how are a power factor. In
this context, and returning to Nye’s (2002, 2004) idea of soft power, it is
clear that political leadership is based, barring obvious exceptions, on a
race to achieve attraction, legitimacy and credibility. Nye’s (2004)
approach to this topic is that while both hard power and soft power are
necessary instruments for the implementation of the interests of a coun-
try’s foreign policy, the use of attraction is less costly than coercion. A
developed soft power will increase the competitiveness of a country or of a
stateless nation in the information era, since it will mean that its culture
and values are adapted to prevailing global standards, access to flows of
information and communication, greater influence in the process of prep-
aration of knowledge and credibility in the management of national and
international affairs (Nye 2002).
In this setting, outstanding importance is taken on here by the infor-
mational society, which is different from the information society, in that,
as Castells (2000a) points out, information societies have always existed,
since the very first Homo sapiens until the humanbeings of industrial civili-
zation. But nowadays we are witnessing a totally new phenomenon. If
knowledge was applied to technology in the information society, now, in
the informational societies, it is the opposite: it is technology that is applied
to knowledge. Informational (or knowledge) societies are those where the
manipulation of symbols, and therefore of the realities inherent in them,
becomes the core of existence in its multiple facets – social, economic,
political and cultural (Castells 2000a, 2001). Thus, the role of public rela-
tions in the informational society becomes essential, by constituting, from
a symbolic interactionism perspective, active participation in the social
construction of meaning (Gordon 1997).
The noosphere, a term coined by the French anthropologist and theolo-
gian Teilhard de Chardin, and which must not be confused with cyberspace
or infospace, has burst onto this scene. Cyberspace refers fundamentally to
the information that flows through the network, while infospace combines
the latter with the information that circulates in the mass media. The noo-
sphere is not just information: it is the sum of the ideas, myths, beliefs and
attitudes that man produces through the collection of data and its analysis
(Molina and Iglesias 2006).
This analysis has given rise to the term noopolitik, which underlines the
role of soft power in expressing ideas, values, procedures and ethics through
the mass media. According to Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1999) this new para-
digm has emerged in the information era, and is affecting the hitherto pre-
vailing paradigms of international relations and international liberalism.
The latter has emerged through theoretical contributions of complex inter-
dependence and the concept of soft power, and through the idea of multiple
networked communication channels and the identification of non-state and
transnational actors in world politics. Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1999: 29) pre-
fer to talk of ‘global interconnectivity’ rather than interdependence.
States will continue to be the main actors of the international system;
there will be a rebalancing of relations between states, the market and

civil society players that will promote noopolitik over realpolitik, although
the latter will not disappear. In fact, Castells (2001) agrees that noopolitik
does not annul realpolitik, i.e., the promotion of the state in the interna-
tional arena by means of negotiation, force or the potential use of force,
but it may be its opposite. In the information era, realpolitik is maintained,
but it is limited to the state, and not to other players such as stateless
nations, whose organization is becoming increasingly more similar to the
grid structure of the architecture of globalization.
It is important to emphasize that it is not only a question of having
access to data, but also of achieving the ability to operate strategically
with these information channels, managing perceptions, interpreting mes-
sages, processing knowledge, recognizing valuable ideas and channeling
them through media that have a sound reputation and credibility for the
former to be regarded as legitimate and attractive. Like soft power, noo-
politik seeks to attract, persuade and influence the perceptions of public
opinion.
From this standpoint, Castells (2001) warns that there is an increas-
ingly greater need to design a new public diplomacy with a virtual-digital
profile suited to the new context, which goes beyond the traditional hier-
archical diplomacy where information flows from top to bottom and the
state is the sole transmitter. Public diplomacy now has to target society
(Castells 2001) and the players that emerge and act in it. Nowadays, pub-
lic diplomacy has to act as a soft power facilitator, promoting the capaci-
ties of persuasive discourse and using suitable technological resources to
do so. It affords it a material foundation, an infrastructure cushion (embas-
sies, or, in the case of Catalonia, CCA) or international events.
Thus, the noosphere is one of the planes on which international activ-
ity unfolds. Knowledge is the key: knowledge that may be achieved not
through a one-way and consecutive process, but rather through multiple
processes and stages. These stages may be summarized as: information,
perception, analysis and dissemination. New communication technolo-
gies act on the first horizon (information), whereas soft power, in combi-
nation with public diplomacy, acts on the latter two (analysis and
dissemination), and public diplomacy, as a public relations area, on per-
ception and reputation.
This horizon comprises, for example, the international promotion strat-
egy of the country brand as an instrument of growing importance in the
design and implementation of the economy and foreign policy of a non-
state actor. Returning to the example of the international promotion of
Catalonia as a tourist destination, one of the tools defined by the strategic
tourism plan generated by the Catalan government is the use of new com-
munication technologies as a strategic competitive factor. These technolo-
gies herald an opportunity for Catalonia ‘to increase awareness of the
Catalonia brand, together with the use of tools for the creation of knowl-
edge and the improvement of competitiveness and promotion’ (Generalitat
de Catalunya 2006: 195).
Indeed, as Castells has stated:
By not searching for a new state, but fighting to preserve their nation,
Catalans may have come full circle to their origins as people of borderless
76 Jordi Xifra

trade, cultural/linguistic identity, and flexible government institutions, all of
them features that seem to characterize the information age.
(Castells 2004: 54)
Noopolitik’s implications for inclusive nationalism, as in the Catalan case,

are observable. One of the main characteristics of Catalan nationalism
(together with its distinctive language) is its relationship with the nation
state. The father of modern Catalan nationalism, Prat de la Riba stated:
‘Catalonia is at the same time European, Mediterranean and Hispanic’
(1906: 56). That is, Catalonia rejects separatism from Spain, but looks for
a new kind of state. According to Castells (2004), it would be a state that
brings together respect for the historically inherited Spanish state and the
growing autonomy of Catalan institutions in conducting public affairs. It
would also include the integration of both Spain and Catalonia in a broader
entity, Europe, which translates not only into membership of the European
Union, but also into various networks of regional and municipal govern-
ments, as well as of civil society; facts that multiply horizontal relationships
throughout Europe under the tenuous shield of modern nation states.
…Only a Spain that could accept its plural identities – Catalonia being one of
its most distinctive ones – could be fully open to a democratic and tolerant
Europe. And, for this to happen, Catalans have first to feel at home within the
territorial sovereignty of the Spanish state, being able to think, and speak, in
Catalan, and thus creating their commune within a broader network.
(Castells 2004: 53)
This differentiation between cultural identity and the power of the state is
an historical innovation in relation to most nation-building processes. It
seems to relate better to the informational society, based on flexibility and
adaptability, to a global economy, and to the networking of media: that is,
to the noosphere.
This situation will be promoted decisively by the progressive extension
of the noosphere, where the management and use of soft power becomes
another asset when implementing policies of public and virtual diplomacy
of a stateless nation and therefore in deciding (together with other ele-
ments) its position in the world economic and political arena.
Our discussion of the noosphere anticipates the next key proposal: At the
highest levels of statecraft, the development of information strategy may
foster the emergence of a new paradigm, one based on ideas, values, and
ethics transmitted through soft power – as opposed to power politics and its
emphasis on the resources and capabilities associated with traditional, mate-
rial ‘hard power.’ Thus, realpolitik (…politics based on practical and material
factors – those of, say, Henry Kissinger) will give some ground to what we
call noopolitik (politics based on ethics and ideas, which we associate with
many of those of George Kennan).
(Arquilla and Ronfeldt 1999: 4–5)
The relevance of the idea of soft power for public relations is not just its
instrumental aspect, in the sense that it makes it possible to analyze different

forms of power positions that are constructed in the international arena
between state and/or non-state actors. In addition, public relations can be
analyzed as a form of soft power, or soft power can be studied as the onto-
logical power of public relations practice.
Having reached this point, noopolitik offers a new public diplomacy
perspective as a management function of the relationships with foreign
publics. Noopolitik allows the management of relationships between non-
centre governments and foreign publics. Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1999)
identify five trends that promote noopolitik: the growing fabric of global
interconnection; the continuous consolidation of global civil society; the
increase in soft power; the new importance of cooperative advantages;
and the formation of the global noosphere. These trends do not render the
paradigm of political realism obsolete, but they do make its use more com-
plex, by making its limitations obvious.
Noopolitik is an approach to statecraft, to be undertaken as much by non-

state as by state actors, that emphasizes the role of soft power in expressing
ideas, values, norms, and ethics through all manner of media. This makes
it distinct from realpolitik, which stresses the hard, material dimensions of
power and treats states as the determinants of world order.
(Arquilla and Ronfeldt 1999: 29)
Both paradigms can be distinguished by the aspects addressed in Table 1:

for example, realpolitik works better when diplomacy may be managed
mainly in the dark, far from the public eye, under strong state control
Realpolitik Noopolitik
States as the unit of analysis Nodes, non-state actors
Primacy of hard power (resources, etc.) Primacy of soft power
Power politics as zero-sum game Win-win, lose-lose possible
System is anarchic, highly conflictual Harmony of interests, cooperation
Alliance conditional (oriented to threat) Ally webs vital to security
Primacy of national self-interest Primacy of shared interests
Politics as unending quest for advantage Explicitly seeking a telos
Ethos is amoral, if not immoral Ethics crucially important
Behaviour driven by threat and power Common goals drive actors
Very guarded about information flows Propensity for info-sharing
Balance of power as the ‘steady-state’ Balance of responsibilities
Power embedded in nation states Power in ‘global fabric’
Source: Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1999: 47).

Table 1: Contrast between realpolitik and noopolitik.
78 Jordi Xifra

without the need to share information with other players. However, the
information revolution has made this very difficult and favours those
actors that operate transparently and leverage the advantages of informa-
tion sharing.
Towards a noopolitikal model of public relations

The characteristics of noopolitik in Table 1 provide us with common con-
cepts from the prevailing paradigms of theory and practice of public rela-
tions: win-win, harmony of interests, cooperation, shared interests, ethics,
common goals, info-sharing, among others. Hence, the noopolitikal model
confirms the idea of Hiebert:
that the new communication technologies can save democracy by restoring

dialogic and participatory communication in the public sphere, thus reserv-
ing a role for public relations as two-way communication rather than propa-
ganda and spin.
(Hiebert 2005: 1)
Applying Wight’s (1994) diplomacy traditions to public relations, L’Etang

(2008) has presented three public relations models: real public relations,
rational public relations, and revolutionary public relations. As L’Etang
states:
Applying the diplomatic models to PR highlights various intentions that may

underpin representational work on behalf of organizations, not just states.
This little exercise also shows that it is possible to derive alternative perspec-
tives about PR from other disciplines and that it is possible to build different
typologies … from those that currently dominate the field.
(L’Etang 2008: 240)
This article suggests a new outlook for the discipline, based on the phe-
nomenon of stateless nation-building and public paradiplomacy in the
new global context, in which social movements, NGOs and particularly
stateless nations have acquired an enormous capacity of influence via the
noosphere, i.e., in the system of communication and representation where
behavioural models are constituted (Castells 2001). From the concepts of
soft power and noopolitik, a perspective on public relations can be culled
that is more realistic than the prevailing theories of the discipline.
Concepts of soft power and noopolitik have a clear relevance for under-
standing and analyzing public diplomacy and public relations theory and
practice. The public relations noopolitikal model includes the three diplo-
matic models established by L’Etang (2008), but they go beyond the
international arena.
From a nationalist perspective, inclusive (and other) nationalisms
have to move from classical communication strategies to knowledge
management in the noosphere. Public relations may play an important
role in those strategies, building relationships between the noosphere
actors in different ways. One of those ways is projecting national identity
using public diplomacy, soft power and noopolitik tactics in their state-
less nation-building processes. From this standpoint, as Falkheimer

pointed out, ‘the development of media and communication technologies
have gradually challenged time and space borders. This has spawned the
development of new symbolic spaces between humans, groups and socie-
ties. Public relations may be viewed as a strategy and tool used for con-
trolling, listening and influencing these symbolic spaces’ (2007: 291),
such as the noosphere.
As we have suggested, noopolitik offers an optimal model for public
relations to control, listen to and influence one (probably the main one) of
those new symbolic spaces – the noosphere. Noopolitikal public relations
emphasize public relations as a knowledge management function in the
information age, not only applicable between non-centre governments
and their publics in the international arena, but also to the relationships
between any organization and its publics.
When we talk about public diplomacy, soft power and noopolitik, we
are talking about governance instead of government (diplomacy, hard
power and realpolitik). In this model, the flows and networks between
organizations and their publics provide a more suitable description of a
type of governance and, as an extension, corporate governance, where
power is more mobile and unstable, where the metaphor of hard power
makes way for that of soft power (Table 2). Certainly, effective governance
implies or entails a soft power that acts through the persuasion and com-
mitment of men and women linked by reciprocal obligation networks. In
this context, public relations become an essential function as a source of
the soft power needed for effective public and corporate governance.
In sum, on the basis of a public relations approach to Catalonia’s pub-
lic diplomacy and nation-building we have developed a noopolitikal model
which describes more accurately the role of public relations, as a two-way
communication process, in corporate governance, based on the principles
of noopolitik, even beyond the new technological processes. This does not
mean that a public diplomacy approach to nation-building and a public
relations approach to corporate governance have to be symmetrical,
because soft power and hard power are not mutually exclusive, they are
complementary, as are noopolitik and realpolitik.
Government Governance
Field Public affairs Collective affairs
Horizon War Peace
Spirit Vertical Horizontal
Hierarchic Democratic
Decisions Order Negotiation
Goals Maintenance Creativity
Unity Diversity
Source: Adapted from Moreau-Defarges (2008: 30).

Table 2: Contrast between government and governance.
80 Jordi Xifra

Implications for Catalonia’s soft power and governance 5. Press release of
the Department of
According to Nye (2002), soft power refers to the ability to get what you Vice-Presidency (15
want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from May 2008). Retrieved
the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies. In from http://www20.
gencat.cat/portal/
essence, national reputation, rooted in international/world public opinion, site/SalaPremsa/
signifies the presence or absence of international legitimacy accrued to a menuitem.342fe435-
certain nation (Tucker and Hendrickson 2004). 5e0205d607d7ed42
b0c0e1a0/?vgnextoi
Moreover, the weight of power resources varies and shifts. As Nye d=f60f88c0b054901
(2004) argued, the relationship between hard and soft power encompasses 0VgnVCM1000000b
three main aspects. First, hard power and soft power are related and rein- 0c1e0aRCRD&vgnext
channel=f60f88c0b0
force each other to achieve behavioural goals. Second, we are moving 549010VgnVCM100
from military force, population, and geography to economic growth, tech- 0000b0c1e0aRCRD&
nology, information, and education. Third, relying on one source of power vgnextfmt=detall&co
ntentid=86cada1c01
is insufficient to achieve desired goals. de9110VgnVCM100
National reputation is one clear indication of a nation’s strength. It 0008d0c1e0aRCRD.
reflects and affects the country’s standing in the global arena. For instance, Accessed 9 December
2008.
a nation’s reputational capital may affect the country’s ability to build
coalitions and alliances to achieve international political objectives (Nye
2004), to influence perceptions and purchase decisions regarding prod-
ucts from certain countries of origin (Wang 2006), to attract foreign
investment (Kotler and Gertner 2002) or in-bound tourism (Chon 1990;
Tapachai and Waryszak 2000).
Although these objectives are not always related, the action of the
Catalan government abroad, as we have seen in this paper, has sought to
create, maintain and promote the reputational capital of Catalonia
abroad. The arguments of the current Vice-President Carod-Rovira, on
the opening of the ‘embassy’ in London, clarify this. According to his
press office, the Vice-President places special emphasis on the fact that
this centre had been established with a view to strengthening relations
with the authorities of the United Kingdom and with the governments of
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and also to promote relations with
Ireland, Iceland and the Nordic countries. The Vice-President also justi-
fied the opening of the branch of the Government in London, stating that
the capital of the United Kingdom, besides being a first-order cultural
centre, is a worldwide economic and financial decision-making centre. He
also recalled that the United Kingdom is the third largest European mar-
ket and one of the Catalonia’s most important partner in terms of imports
(fifth) and exports (seventh).5
However, this soft power approach to the practice of public diplomacy
has been used to build an image and to practise a constructive policy
based on creating opportunities for the generation of reputational capital.
In the field of public relations, which target the management of relations
between an organization and its environment to create and/or maintain
a positive reputation, this practice is known as opportunities management
(Xifra 2006). But, what happened when the Catalan government had to
face up to a real public relations problem affecting its international image?
The controversy following the publication of the article ‘The Party’s over’
(which criticised the Catalan linguistic and social reality) in the British
magazine The Economist in November 2008, demonstrated that the
Catalan government does not always act in accordance with the model of

6. Retrieved from governance, and even less so in reactive situations. The Generalitat’s
http://www.
europapress.es/
response to this issue, demanding an apology and branding the journalist
nacional/noticia- that penned the article as ignorant,6 is a clear example of hard power and
govern-exige-disculpa- realpolitik.
the-economist-repor-
taje-afirmaciones-
In this regard, the words of Hernández, who denounced the fact that
insultantes-cataluna- no representative of the Generalitat responded to the journalist who had
20081111175847. authored the article, although he had requested an interview, are telling.
html. Accessed 9
December 2008.
He states:
7. Retrieved from
The tripartite [Catalan government] lacked its hitherto abundant diligence
http://www.carod.
cat/seccions/bloc/ in calling for a written ‘rectification and apology’ by The Economist, in what
bloc.asp. Accessed was a haughty response to a journalist’s criticisms which recall days that
9 December 2008.
are happily gone by.
(Hernández 2008: 24)
Vice-President Carod-Rovira’s point of view is different. In his weblog,

Carod opines that the article ‘distorts and manipulates the Catalan linguis-
tic and social reality’ and justifies the ‘need’ for Catalonia to have centres
abroad to defend Catalan interests, e.g. ‘an ambitious structure of its own’
to develop a ‘foreign public action’. Carod concludes: ‘The Government
works, and will continue to work, for us to have our own voice all over
the world. Only thus will we become known in our true light. Free of self-
interested manipulation’.7 These declarations evince a clear commitment
to classic, rather than public, diplomacy.
According to Nye:
The information revolution is transforming politics and organizations.

Hierarchies are increasingly flatter, and information professionals act in
accordance with different incentives and political hooks. The surveys show
that nowadays people are much less deferent to authority in organizations
and in politics. Soft power is becoming increasingly more important.
(Nye 2008: 39)
The government of Catalonia seems to know this, but has not managed
to generate the sufficient and necessary appeal to foster its national iden-
tity yet. At least it has not done so vis-à-vis different publics which are
strategically pivotal to the efficacious development of nation-building
through public diplomacy, such as the global mass media. Media rela-
tions are an essential part of public relations, and their management,
according to the governance model, must be collaborative instead of
reactive and reactionary, as occurred in the case of the article in The
Economist. Problems such as the negative publicity in this British maga-
zine can be solved, as Carod proposes, through diplomatic institutionali-
sation, although efficacious public diplomacy is not a one-way
asymmetrical communication process, but rather, and quite the oppo-
site, it is two-way symmetrical one (Yun 2008). This new two-way
approach requires the ability to influence and explain the reality and the
identity of Catalonia to the global mass media and the informational
community, without having to wait for sporadic moments such as the
opening of Catalan para-embassies.
82 Jordi Xifra

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84 Jordi Xifra

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Contributor details
Jordi Xifra is professor of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at
the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain) and president of the Spanish
Association of Public Relations Researchers. He has published books on the the-
ory of public relations, strategic planning, and lobbying. Also, he has published
articles in leading journals in the field. His research is focused on public relations
theory, political public relations and, recently, stateless nation-building processes
and public paradiplomacy.
Contact: Department of Communication, Pompeu Fabra University, Roc Boronat,
138; 08018 Barcelona (Spain).
Tel: +34 93 542 20 00
E-mail: jordi.xifra@upf.edu

Transnational Cinemas
ISSN 2040-3550 (2 issues | Volume 1, 2010)
Aims and Scope

Transnational Cinemas has emerged in response to a shift in global film cultures
and how we understand them. Dynamic new industrial and textual practices are
being established throughout the world and the academic community is responding.
Our journal aims to break down traditional geographical divisions and welcomes
Editors
submissions that reflect the changing nature of global filmmaking.
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<]ZgjY`K`Yo provides a new and exciting forum for disseminating research. The editors are seeking
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Jml`<gm_`lq should be up to 6,000 words in length and should be written in English, with all
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CJCS_1.1_06_art_Xifra_61-86.indd 86 8/6/09 9:03:56 AM

Viewpoint
Miscellaneous. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.87/7
The Catalan Communicative Space:

still a strategic objective1
Josep Gifreu Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Introduction
After thirty years spent reclaiming freedoms and democratic institutions 1. This text is an
updated version of
in the Spanish State, of setting up the Catalan parliament and a Catalan the talk ‘Twenty
government in the shape of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and since the years of the Catalan
first newspaper was published in Catalan back in 1939, and twenty-five communicative
space: still a possible
years since the first Catalan radio and television stations were set up, we objective?’, given
Catalans have a problem. in Barcelona at the
The question to be answered is this: today, is the utopian goal of a Aula Magna of the
Blanquerna Faculty
Catalan communicative space (CCS) still possible? This is a goal that had of Communication
been formulated as one of the strategic objectives for the national and of the Universitat
structural reconstruction of Catalonia some twenty years ago.2 Ramon Llull and
organised by the
The genealogy of the public proposal for a Catalan communicative Fundació Espai
space is rooted in the years of political transition in Catalonia and also in Català de Cultura
my professional work dedicated to political journalism and to teaching i Comunicació
(ESCACC), on 21
and research in communication at the Faculty of Information Science of June 2007. The text
the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). is translated from
My attention at the university was focused on a line of research which Catalan by Tracy
Byrne.
aimed to bring together the new perspectives that were appearing in
Catalonia and Spain with regard to the normalization of the Catalan lan- 2. The basic documents
where I have
guage and culture, on the one hand, and the international debate on the proposed and
role of the media in defending weak identities in the general process of developed the
decolonisation, on the other. This was the time when the major report on proposal for the
CCS since the
the status of communication in the world was being debated and drawn mid-1980s are as
up, namely the ‘MacBride Report’, approved by Unesco in 1980. follows: (1986)
This line of research made up my doctoral thesis (1982) and I was able J. Gifreu (dir.),
Comunicació, llengua
to continue my research afterwards thanks to the interest of the Institute i cultura a Catalunya:
of Catalan Studies (IEC in Catalan). The IEC funded the exploratory Horitzó 1990,
research that helped to lay the foundations for a series of political actions Barcelona: Institut
d’Estudis Catalans;
in the area of communication and culture. One of these lines focused on (1986) ‘From
the need to promote a Catalan communicative space3. Communication
I would like to go back over this genealogy in order to highlight a sub- Policy to Recons-
truction of Cultural
stantive fact: that the formulation of the CCS as a strategy of national Identity: Prospects
reconstruction was fundamentally the result of a line of research. Not of a for Catalonia’,
political programme, nor of a professional dedication to politics or journal- European Journal of
Communication, 1,
ism. Fundamentally, and from the outset, it was one of the results of a
CJCS_1.1_07_Gifreu_87-96.indd 87 7/1/09 1:02:37 PM

pp. 463–76; (1989) project and line of research. Perhaps thanks to this, the same formulation
Comunicació i recon-
strucció nacional,
has been able to continue evolving, and some of the core concepts have
Barcelona: Pòrtic; been able to (and can still today) be discussed and evaluated both by
(1991) J. Gifreu academia per se and also in the political and civic arena and in the media.
(ed.), Construir l’espai
català de comunicació,
Very briefly, I would like to go over and highlight four particularly
Barcelona: Centre significant moments in the promotion and consolidation of this strategic
d’Investigació de line of research and action. The initial impulse for this was when, in 1986,
la Comunicació de
la Generalitat de
the Catalan minister for Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Joaquim
Catalunya; (1996) Ferrer, asked me to give the inaugural speech at the Poliorama for the
‘Linguistic order second ‘Critical Reflections on Catalan Culture’, where I publicly proposed
and spaces of com-
munication in
the need to advance towards an CCS. The second moment was when, in
post-Maastricht 1991, the Catalan President, Jordi Pujol, was good enough to present, in
Europe’, Media, public, the report entitled Construir l’espai català de comunicació (Constructing
Culture and Society,
18, pp. 127–139;
the Catalan Communicative Space), produced with the contributions and
(1998) ‘L’espai recommendations from panels of consultants from all the Catalan-speaking
audiovisual català: countries. A third moment was when, in 1999, the Catalan parliament, in
crisi de creixement?’,
Quaderns del
its first plenary session of the legislature, which was dedicated to broad-
CAC, Consell de casting, unanimously passed Resolution 3/IV/II on the ‘Catalan commu-
l’Audiovisual de nicative space’, establishing the regulatory foundations to promote a
Catalunya, 1, March
1998, pp. 3–8; and
‘Catalan communicative space’, especially on radio and television. And
(2006) J. Gifreu, La the fourth moment was when, in 2005, the same parliament passed the
pell de la diferència. new ‘Broadcasting Act of Catalonia’, which contains some of the previous
Comunicació, llengua
i cultura des de l’espai
lines of action and promotion.
català, Barcelona: In short, the CCS proposed, firstly, an overall strategy of action that
Pòrtic. was non-party (beyond political parties but involving them as much as
possible) and non-regionalist (not limited to any particular area in the his-
torically Catalan territories), in order to structure and strengthen the
Catalan cultural space. And secondly, a method for analysing and evalu-
ating results, with two complementary dimensions: the ‘internal’ dimen-
sion related to the needs and opportunities for intercommunication
between all the historically Catalan-speaking territories, and the ‘external’
dimension, i.e. the ability to gain external recognition as a differentiated
area under equal conditions.
The strengths of the CCS

An assessment of the current status of such a complex and ambitious goal
as that of CCS must be critical, open and subject to a reality test. How can
we provide a summarised, comparative view of the situation? An effective
and also didactic method might be that of distinguishing between the
strong points, weak points and also particularly the ‘black’ points or fac-
tors. In each section I will also point out the factors related to the cultural
space as a whole, in Catalonia and also in the ‘exterior’.
With regard to the Catalan cultural space as a whole, we can distin-
guish four potentially relevant factors, which are:
• The strengthening of the autonomous political power of each region in

the Catalan language space, which in theory means that favourable cul-
tural and communication policies can be adopted.
• The setting up of public radio and television corporations with a sig-
nificant capacity for production, influence and exchange.
88 Josep Gifreu

• The existence of collaboration networks between cultural bodies from
civil society (albeit not from the field of communication). Notable
examples are: the inter-university Joan Lluís Vives Institute and the
Federation of Ramon Llull organizations (Òmnium, Acció Cultural del
País Valencià and Obra Cultural Balear).
• The implementation of successful business initiatives and projects in
the field of communication. Three examples: the weekly El Temps, the
online newspaper Vilaweb and the Baròmetre project, promoted by the
ESCACC. Innumerable initiatives also appeared in the shape of portals
and websites in Catalan for large and small companies in all the coun-
ties of Catalonia.
With regard to the strong points in Catalonia, the following factors should
be noted:
• A broad political and civil consensus on the language policies to be applied

with positive discrimination for Catalan, particularly implemented in the
publicly owned media and essential when granting licences in the terri-
tory of Catalonia.
• The crucial work carried out by broadcasters from the Catalan
Broadcasting Corporation (originally the CCRTV in Catalan, now
known as the CCMA), also enjoying a broad political consensus and
great social acceptance, especially of TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio. No-one
can doubt that, during the last twenty years, the key responsibility for
constructing a Catalan broadcasting space has lain with the CCRTV.
• Notable creative capacity in the Catalan cultural industry and a desire
to be involved at each of the different levels of cultural expression: high
culture, popular culture and mass culture.
• A highly active and well-established system of local and county-based
communication with many different forms of expression and participa-
tion in the press, on the radio, television and in the new digital media
established in the territory.
And, if we take into account the ‘external space’, i.e. the capacity of the
Catalan cultural space to project itself and/or be present in Europe and the
rest of the world, it is useful to point out the following positive factors:
• Very much in first place is the international recognition of ‘.cat’, the

Catalan top level Internet domain, approved in 2005 by ICANN. The
Catalan experience, unique on the worldwide web, shows how a cultural
nation can be recognised and protected on the Internet without the need
to wait for it to become a state per se.
• Moreover, the Catalan language on the Internet has already managed
to carve out an important place for itself, especially due to worldwide
operators such as Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, etc. being willing to pro-
vide a Catalan version.
• A certain presence can be detected of the ‘Catalan brand’ in various
manifestations of art, literature and international relations associated
especially with Catalonia. One example was the invitation to Catalan
Culture as the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007.
The Catalan Communicative Space: still a strategic objective 89

4. The Catalan Certain artistic benchmarks are also identified as Catalan (Gaudí,
Audiovisual Council
(CAC) is the
Casals, Dalí, Miró, etc.).
independent
authority that
regulates audiovisual
communication
A success story: TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio
in Catalonia. The There is a success story that is worth remembering and emphasising here.
CAC is governed by In the recent historical process of reconstructing the Catalan nation after
Law 2/2000, of 4
May on the Catalan
Franco’s dictatorship, it’s hard to find any other political and cultural ini-
Audiovisual Council, tiative with such consensus and acceptance as the creation, implementa-
as well as the tion and consolidation of TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio. The first channel of
framework law for the
sector, Law 22/2005,
Televisió de Catalunya and the leading radio station of the Generalitat have
of 29 December, just celebrated their 25th anniversary by being recognised in two different
on audiovisual successful and exemplary ways: successful in their founding mission to
communication in
Catalonia.
ensure the penetration and normalisation of the Catalan language and
culture in the areas of audiovisual communication, and exemplary in their
condition as public service media.
We have particularly noted here the accomplishments of TV3 and
Catalunya Ràdio because of the unique importance of these two chan-
nels of the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation (CCMA in Catalan, CCRTV
until 2007) to Catalan broadcasting culture, in particular, and to Catalan
language and culture in general. No-one doubts that, without the
immense contribution of CCMA radio and television to aspects such as
creativity, information, entertainment, and the promotion of art and sci-
ence, public debate, social and linguistic cohesion and technological
innovation, the redirecting of the Catalan community over a generation
would have been much more fragile. However, realising the overall
value of this contribution obviously does not mean that the policies,
decisions or behaviours adopted at any time by those responsible for
these media cannot be criticised.
What is true is that we have a series of indicators, such as audience
size, opinion polls, mobilisation capacity, etc., that have gradually con-
firmed the leadership of TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio for many years in
Catalonia, in spite of growing competition from new channels from Spain
and in Spanish. In fact, since the mid-1990s, Catalunya Ràdio has led the
field in terms of radio audience in Catalonia, with an established leader-
ship in the most important time slots. For its part, by the mid-1990s TV3
had achieved an accumulated audience (at least 15 minutes in 24 hours)
of 60 per cent of the population of Catalonia. In the daily audience rank-
ings, TV3 has gone from leading the field at the end of the 1990s to a
more restrained position in recent years. In any case, according to the
public opinion polls on the broadcasting media carried out by the
Audiovisual Council of Catalonia (CAC in Catalan) since 20034, both
Catalunya Ràdio and TV3 have recorded the highest ratings from listeners
and viewers in Catalonia.
The weak points of the CCS

In spite of the CCS project’s strong components, as I have just pointed out,
the real map of the media and of the circulation of cultural products in the
territories of the Catalan language space provides us with a somewhat
90 Josep Gifreu

disturbing overall panorama. I will provide some examples of this at each 5. The ‘Castelló
Standards’ refer
level of analysis. to the agreement
Regarding the Catalan cultural space as a whole, we may observe the among Valencian
following as negative elements: intellectuals in
December 1932
concerning the rules
• The extreme politicisation of the Catalan language and culture, often for writing modern
self-serving. The lack of an official standing for Catalan in Spain (out- Catalan. In fact, these
rules substantially
side the Catalan-speaking area) and the doubts concerning the unity, adopted the 1913
name and territories of reference do nothing for the health of Catalan standards of the
nor for the promotion of an CCS within the territories. Institute of Catalan
Studies, proposed and
• The lack of a protected market for the communication and cultural defended by Pompeu
industries in Catalan, regulated and protected by Spain in the Catalan- Fabra. Pompeu
speaking territories, at least similar to the protection provided for Fabra was a Catalan
grammarian, the
Spanish throughout Spain. main author of the
• The gradual ‘Spanishifying’ of content and of cultural and politi- normative reform
cal references in the large-scale media distributed and consumed of contemporary
Catalan language.
in Catalan-speaking territories. In fact, the only references that are The ‘Castelló
increasingly more common among all inhabitants of the Catalan Standards’ are
language space are those channelled by the large-scale media from now the estab-
lished and accepted
Spain and in Spanish. model for Catalan
• The non-existence of interregional organisations of professionals from orthography in all
the media or from the sectors that produce and distribute culture and Catalan-speaking
territories.
the media (professional colleges, associations, federations, etc.) that
represent the Catalan language space.
• The lack of a standard common oral language particular to the large-
scale media and accepted by and acceptable for all territories, as with
the Castelló Standards of 1932 with regard to spelling (which have
just celebrated their 75th anniversary).5
With regard to the specific situation in Catalonia, the most important

weak points would be as follows:
• Of all the relatively powerful private communication and culture

groups based in Catalonia, there is no communication group that is
firmly and constantly committed to strengthening the CCS. Quite the
contrary: their aspirations are aimed at the Spanish market and/or the
market in Spanish.
• With regard to radio and television, and in spite of the importance
of the CAC’s function as an independent authority being recog-
nised, in reality the CAC’s lack of power over 70 per cent to 80
per cent of the radio and TV received in Catalonia rules out its
effectiveness as a true ‘authority’ and creates a dangerous duality
between the ‘CAC territory’ and the ‘uncontrolled territory’ of the
operators.
• The recent penetration of private Spanish communication groups,
also in local communication, raises even more doubts as to what
extent this level of local communication might not also contribute to
the expansion of the Spanish communicative, language and cultural
space.

And with regard to the ‘external area’, I would particularly like to point
out two situations that have serious negative consequences:
• A lack of explicit recognition on the part of the Spanish state (and there-
fore of Europe) of the Catalan ‘cultural exception’, applied to all cultural
and audiovisual production in Catalan.
• The objective difficulties in integrating new trends due to immigration
within the Catalan cultural imaginary, a task that is, to a great degree,
made easier or more difficult by the large-scale media.
The ‘blackest’ points

After trying to analyse and compare the key favourable and unfavourable
factors that currently affect the viability of the CCS, I have left to the end
the identification of the more critical points that stop this general strategy
from advancing.
With regard to the Catalan cultural space as a whole, there would be
four particularly ‘black’ points:
• The non-existence of any radio or TV channel that covers, in technical,

news and cultural terms, the needs of citizens in all historical Catalan-
speaking territories.
• The lack of a specific agreement regarding communication and culture
between all the Catalan-speaking regions – a lack that is particularly
worrying between the four autonomous communities of Spain with
shared interests (Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands
and Aragon).
• The lack of well-established private communication and culture groups
in all territories of the Catalan language space with the capacity and
desire to compete in the domestic and external market. In fact the oppo-
site is the case, given the progressive penetration of powerful Spanish
and European communication groups.
• The inexorable expansion of the Spanish broadcasting space, which,
as there is no consolidated private TV channel in Catalan, is free to
continuously occupy audience segments and associated markets. In
Catalonia itself, the days of TV3’s task of maintaining a certain leader-
ship may be numbered and, in fact, the erosion of audiences in Catalan
in Catalonia is slow but steady.
And with regard to the ‘external’ dimension of the CCS, the following act
as a veritable constraint to its affirmation and recognition:
• The lack of recognition of Catalan as an ‘official’ language of the European

Union, with the consequent exclusion of all the benefits of global visibility
and access to different programmes of support and promotion.
• The lack of a protective state, not only in terms of language but also of
the identity-based policies of the Catalan language space, especially in
the field of communication and culture. This is necessary in order to
tackle the increasingly more aggressive identity-based policies of large
and small cultures with a state.
92 Josep Gifreu

• The lack of any international radio or TV channel that is broadly repre-
sentative of the diversity and unity of the cultural space of the Catalan
language and that can also generate a Catalan point of view on the
present-day situation of the world.
Looking towards the future: what identity-based policies?

Looking forwards means knowing how to assess properly and take advan-
tage of the opportunities offered us by the geopolitical context. What con-
text do we see? I propose a hypothesis: our closest geopolitical context has
become increasingly more hostile. Put another way: the identity-based
policies of our geopolitical context are advancing aggressively and are suf-
focating the Catalan language space.
Our most crucial geopolitical context in terms of identity is obviously
Europe. Well, how does Europe, and particularly the European Union, tackle
identity policies? In Europe, national states have blithely retained sovereign
powers over a whole range of identity-based policies: policies relating to
education, culture, language, communication and immigration. In short: it
is not up to the Union but to each member state to dictate and determine
who is ‘national’ (granting ‘citizenship’) and what is ‘national’ (the order of
national difference: what it means to be ‘French’ or ‘Italian’ or ‘Spanish’). In
Brussels they say, for issues of language and culture, make your claims to
your state. The only guarantee is your state.
We are therefore forced to analyse how ‘our’ (principal) state, the
Spanish state, guarantees the historical process of the full recovery of the
Catalan cultural space in Europe and the world. The evolution of cultural
and communication policies in Spain over the last twenty years reveals a
dynamic that has followed this perverse progression:
• Spain has not facilitated or tolerated the adoption of structural bases with
regard to the construction of a communicative and cultural space among
the different historical Catalan-speaking territories.
• Spain has impeded, via all kinds of political, legal, technical and eco-
nomic devices, the progress of institutional and civic initiatives towards
a normalisation of cultural and communicative exchange, especially
on radio and television.
• Specifically in Catalonia, state administrations have applied continual
pressure, both in terms of structure and political juncture, in order to
slow up or hinder substantial advances towards a strong communica-
tive space being achieved in Catalonia itself.
In reality, the Spanish state entrusts the system of large-scale Spanish

media, both public and private, with the mission of constructing a basic
consensus concerning the indestructible link between the ‘Spanish nation’
and the Castilian language and culture.
Consequently everything, be it in structural terms (Constitution, new
statutes in decline, laws and technical plans, uncertain finances, etc.), or
in more junctural terms (centralist policies, annual budgets, etc.), seems to
indicate that any progress towards a higher level of communicative and
culture space per se is in great doubt.

On the other hand, the impact of these neo-Spanishifying identity poli-
cies on the Catalan cultural space has a clear effect on key aspects that
make it difficult for the different Catalan-speaking regions to come closer
together, unite and exchange. There are hardly any possibilities for gen-
eral agreements between the communities regarding communication
(between Catalonia and the community of Valencia in particular), and
there are no basic agreements for the joint defence of the language in
Spain and in Europe. There is also no cooperation in substantial aspects of
cultural and audiovisual creation, etc.
On the contrary, what effectively unifies almost the whole Catalan lan-
guage space is a language that wants to be ‘common’ (Spanish): commu-
nication groups with interests aimed at the Spanish market; TV audiences
of Spanish origin and in Spanish in 80 per cent or more of the cases; a
music, film, advertising and publishing market basically in Spanish, etc.
Through a poetry of difference

The experience of communication in the present-day world leads to this
undeniable conclusion: that, today, a physical and social space, increas-
ingly delimited by a mental and symbolic space, quickly becomes occupied
and structured by a dominant communicative space. If you don’t guaran-
tee the predominance of your own space of references, others will quickly
occupy it.
Given this growing occupation of the Catalan language space by the
policies and markets of the new ‘Spanishifying’ offensive, I believe three
possible scenarios can be predicted in the medium term:
• Scenario one: the process of replacing the Catalan cultural space will
continue to advance everywhere, spreading from the different ‘fringes’ to
the centre and from large urban agglomerations to rural or traditional
strongholds.
• Scenario two: the difficulties in structuring a common space lead to
the emergence of a dual matrix for the Catalan cultural space; one ter-
ritorial in nature, with a dispersed focus on production activity, and
another, de-territorialised area, generated in and through cyberspace,
without direct links to the structuring of historical territories.
• Scenario three: Catalonia opts to set itself up as a central autonomous
core for the Catalan cultural space in Europe and the world, irrespec-
tive of what the other regions in the historical Catalan-speaking ter-
ritories decide to do.
In any case, I believe that such a difficult prospect forces us to be creative,

innovative and daring. If we want to achieve full powers in the area of
communication for the territory of Catalonia, we might well start by think-
ing of a renowned and established political concept in the United Kingdom.
I am referring to the concept of ‘Devolution’. With a devolution policy, for
example, the central parliament could cede to the Catalan parliament all
its powers in the area of public communication. This is at least in part the
route already taken by the Catalan parliament, first by creating the CAC
and afterwards by passing the Broadcasting Act. What I have called the
‘CAC territory’ represents, in some way, the assumption of powers not
94 Josep Gifreu

taken on by other autonomous communities. Devolution would resolve,
for example in Catalonia, the limitations of what I have called the ‘CAC
territory’ or the controversial management of radio space.
In short, and as I have noted at the beginning, we Catalans still have a
serious problem. The problem is this: ‘We’. Who, today, holds the power to
identify and designate a ‘we’ that is recognised on the map of nations?
Firstly the state, but, secondly, the system of large-scale media: the verita-
ble everyday constructors of the division between ‘them’ and ‘us’.
The question regarding whether a CCS is still possible today must
therefore transform into another question: is a CCS still necessary?
In fact, I believe that advancement towards a CCS is absolutely neces-
sary if we wish to maintain an identifiable ‘We’ on the map of peoples
with a history in Europe, and the world, that is distinctive, individual and
with the Catalan brand. There are three principal parties involved in this
historical quest and each one must accept its own responsibilities. Firstly,
those that govern: our rulers must adopt fair identity policies that are
appropriate for a global, hostile environment. Secondly, the media and
their professionals: in the Catalan area, the media and cultural industries
must incorporate a principle of national loyalty into their approach. And
thirdly, citizens: we citizens are the references for a ‘We’, the only ones
responsible for the reconstruction of our own area.
In short, we who feel like members and feel responsible for the Catalan
community are responsible for envisaging, recreating and sharing a poetry
of difference, of ‘our’ difference in the world today. And to this end we
need to have our own communicative and cultural space that is strong
and capable of taking on the new challenges of the digital and global era.
Suggested citation
Gifreu, J. (2009), ‘The Catalan Communicative Space: still a strategic objective’,
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1: 1, pp. 87–95, doi: 10.1386/
cjcs.1.1.87/7
Contributor details
Josep Gifreu is Professor of Communication Theory at the Universitat Pompeu
Fabra. He writes and researches on national identity and media, Catalonia and
the communication system, and political communication. Among other works, he
is author of La Pell de la diferència. Comunicació, llengua i cultura des de l’espai català
(Pòrtic, 2006). Recently, he has co-edited (with F. Pallarés and A. Capdevila) the
volume De Pujol a Maragall. Comunicació política i comportament electoral a les elec-
cions catalanes de 2003 (Documenta Universitària, 2007). He is editorial director of
Quaderns del CAC.
Contact: Departament de Comunicació, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat
138, 08018 Barcelona.
E-mail: josep.gifreu@upf.edu

CJCS_1.1_07_Gifreu_87-96.indd 96 7/22/09 9:12:07 AM
TVE Catalunya. Fifty years of light

and shade
Mar Binimelis University of Vic
Josetxo Cerdán Rovira i Virgili University
Miguel Fernández Labayen Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona
The Spanish model of television, developed in the early 1950s, was not
only the fruit of improvisation but was also affected by internal struggles
among factions within General Franco’s dictatorship regime. As indicated
in research into early Spanish television (Rodríguez Márquez and Martín
Uceda 1992), the dictatorship failed to understand the potential of televi-
sion, and this situation resulted in an improvised, hurried and underfunded
commencement for television broadcasting in Spain. The launch occurred
in Madrid in October 1956 – but developments may well have unfolded dif-
ferently. In December 1955, in fact, a national television plan presented at
the First National Conference of Telecommunications Engineers – an event
which did not go unnoticed by the authorities – underlined the idea of cre-
ating two parallel production centres in Madrid and in Barcelona, and from
there to roll out broadcasting to the rest of Spain.
Even after Televisión Española (TVE) commenced broadcasting, as Palacio
(2001: 50) reminds us, there was still some uncertainty as to whether Madrid
and Barcelona would broadcast through the same channel or through two
channels serving different geographical areas. The fact that these options
were even discussed points clearly to a consideration of different broadcast-
ing models other than the model that was finally implemented. Barcelona
and Catalonia had, in the end, to wait three further years (until 1959) to
receive the first television signal transmitted from Madrid and a further few
months before it could open its own production centre, Miramar studios.
Fifty years have passed since the first live broadcast from the Miramar
studios, on 14 July 1959, of a variety programme called Balcón del
Mediterráneo/Balcony of Mediterranean. TVE Catalunya has undergone many
changes since then, ranging from periods when expectations were great to
others marked by low levels of activity. In its fifty years of existence,
whether at Miramar or Sant Cugat (where production was relocated in
1983), TVE Catalunya has had to develop its own specific vision of televi-
sion in a rather complicated socioeconomic context in which ideology and
identity were also issues that had to be taken into account. A historical
review of the main development stages of TVE Catalunya highlights some
CJCS_1.1_08_Binimelis_97-104.indd 97 7/22/09 11:19:25 AM

1. TVE Catalunya of the major tensions experienced in these last fifty years and also serves to
itself points, rather
than to periods, to
mark out tentative chronological milestones for an institution that has not,
events – three in as yet, been clearly demarcated as a proper subject of inquiry. Below we
particular – that have identified four main periods in the history of TVE Catalunya that take
have marked its
history, namely: its
account of both the Spanish and Catalan contexts.1
foundation in 1959;
the first broadcast Uncertainty and expectation
in the Catalan lan-
guage in 1964; and
The first stage in the history of TVE Catalunya was the period running from
transfer to Sant the commencement of broadcasting in 1959 to 1964, with Luis Ezcurra as
Cugat in 1983. See head of the Miramar studios. These five years were marked, above all, by
http://www.rtve.es/
television/20081119/
technological shortcomings and financial penury – problems also shared
part--historia-tve- with the Madrid studios in Paseo de La Habana. The lack of means and
catalunya/196116. resources is largely explained by the indifference of Franco’s state apparatus.
shtml. Accessed 19
February 2009.
It was in this context that Miramar – at that time larger than the Madrid
studios – was able to develop its own programming profile and steadily
increase the number of production hours. Although Miramar always had a
lower production output that the Madrid studios, in its early years the
increase in production hours was spectacular – so much so that it some-
times found it necessary to lease the Teatro de la Ópera in the nearby town
of Hospitalet as a set for dramas. Two key figures in particular marked this
period. One was Enrique de las Casas, head of programming, who had been
relocated from the Madrid studios with a view to enhancing production; the
other was the Austrian, Arthur Kaps, a comedy scriptwriter and stage direc-
tor by profession, who settled in Barcelona in 1942 to escape World War II.
Arthur Kaps, along with Franz Johan, performed in theatres in the Paralelo
area of Barcelona, where they garnered a reputation as kings of the variety
show that eventually made them known all over Spain. Whereas Enrique de
las Casas focused on steadily launching new programmes, Arthur Kaps
focused on developing two particular kinds of shows with Franz Johan and
the other members of his theatre company, Los Vieneses, namely Gustavo Re
and Herta Frankel. Thus, Johan and Re became key participants in variety
shows broadcast in the evening, whereas Frankel became Spain’s first chil-
dren’s television star. Glamour was a hallmark of Kaps’ programmes, thanks
to his success in persuading international stars – among them, Marlene
Dietrich, Charles Aznavour and Sammy Davis Junior – to appear in his
shows. This international veneer contrasted greatly with an evident lack of
means, but the outcome was television entertainment that was less rigid
and less idealogical than that offered by the Madrid studios. Eventually a
degree of competitiveness developed between programmes made in the two
locations, such as that between two variety shows, Los amigos del lunes/
Monday Friends (1962), made in Barcelona, and Gran Parada/Big Parade
(1959), made in Madrid. The fact that Arthur Kaps, in an interview pub-
lished in the Solidaridad Nacional newspaper on 9 September 1963, was
forced to deny that these two programmes were fiercely competitive is ade-
quate evidence of undercover rivalry.
Control from the centre, the circuit català and

a generational handover
In 1964 TVE in Madrid inaugurated new studios in Prado del Rey that were
far more modern and much larger than those it had occupied in Paseo de La
98 Mar Binimelis, Josetxo Cerdán and Miguel Fernández Labayen

Habana and far superior to those at Miramar. The relocation led to a gen- 2. The original Spanish
reads as follows: ‘Mi
eral reorganization of TVE. Luis Ezcurra was recalled to Madrid to become enhorabuena a TVE
sub-director general; he, in turn, recalled Enrique de las Casas and appointed por haber tenido
him head of programming. The process came full circle when, two years la inteligente y
acertadísima idea de
later, Arthur Kaps was appointed artistic director of TVE. Both de las Casas transmitir, al fin, una
and Kaps played key roles in the internationalization strategies that were emisión en catalán.
adopted by TVE in this period. The same year, 1966, also witnessed the Solamente repruebo la
falta de información
launch of a second television channel, leading not only to an increase in the al no anunciar dicho
number of production hours but also, in time, to TVE Catalunya carving out programa, que hizo que
an enclave of its own through opt-outs from nationwide broadcasting. muchas personas, al
no leerlo en la Prensa
Recognizing how television had quickly developed into the main cul- barcelonesa, que
tural industry in Spain, technocrats holding strategic government posts lo anunciaba muy
under Franco’s dictatorship had by now completely rewritten state tel- recatadamente,
quedaran sin poder
evision policy. In accordance with new government strategies, Madrid verlo.’
became the indisputable centre of operations and Miramar was rele-
gated to the backseat, although it would continue producing certain
kinds of programmes, primarily game shows, children’s programmes
and variety shows. The main feature of this second phase of the history
of TVE Catalunya, however, was a timid commencement in terms of
opting out from national broadcasts in Spanish in order to broadcast in
the Catalan language to Catalonia. Thus, on 27 October 1964, with
hardly any forewarning, a television adaptation in the Catalan lan-
guage of La ferida lluminosa by Josep Maria de Segarra was broadcast
exclusively in, what would come to be referred to as, the circuit català
(the Catalan circuit). This play inaugurated a monthly theatre pro-
gramme in Catalan – paradoxically entitled Teatro catalán/Catalan
Theatre in Spanish – that eventually broadcast a total of over thirty
small-screen adaptations of literature classics.
The paradox was not only that plays in the Catalan language were being
shown in a programme with a Spanish name, but also that the transmissions
received hardly any publicity. These paradoxes clearly reflected the duality of
Franco’s policy: a small degree of broadcasting in Catalan was to be permit-
ted but the visibility of these programmes was to be kept to an absolute min-
imum. This subterfuge provoked some – admittedly mild – protest among
certain sectors of Catalan society, which – again paradoxically – found an
outlet in TeleRadio, the official TVE magazine. Thus, a letter addressed to the
editors and signed by ‘a group of Catalan university students’ concluded as
follows:
Congratulations to TVE for its intelligent and wise decision to, at last, broad-
cast in Catalan. The only criticism is the lack of information in not having
previously announced the programme; this meant that many people were
unable to see it, given that they did not read about it in the Barcelona press
which only referred to it very circumspectly.
(TeleRadio 1964)2
Thus, at the apogee of Franco’s dictatorship, a small enclave was carved

out that enabled Catalan-language programming to take place. However,
although the number of opt-out hours increased steadily, the power to
intervene in TVE production in a broader sense was lost, especially given
TVE Catalunya. Fifty years of light and shade 99

3. The nova cançó (new that the controls exercised over public television broadcasting were tight-
song) folk music
movement arose
ened once its social and political relevance was recognized by the authori-
in the early 1960s ties. In the remaining eleven years of the dictatorship, which terminated
with the purpose with Franco’s death in 1975, although the number of Catalan-language
of creating contempo-
rary songs in Catalan,
programmes broadcast increased, the total number of programming hours
many of which remained small, reaching only seventeen hours a month in the last year of
denounced the the dictatorship. The programmes broadcast by TVE Catalunya, however,
dictatorship.
had a distinctively Catalan identity. In 1967, Teatro catalán was replaced
4. An episode can by Mare nostrum, an information programme on folk traditions whose title
be viewed on the
TVE Catalunya
in Latin reflected a strategy to avoid propagating the kind of linguistic
commemorative contradiction inherent in the previous drama programme title. In 1973
webpage. Produced the first circuit català programme that tackled current affairs was broad-
by Lluís Maria Güell,
this particular episode
cast. Called Giravolt, it became a landmark programme whose format has
commences with been temporarily resuscitated by TVE Catalunya in more recent times. In
shots of the popular 1974, the small screen saw the arrival of new titles such as Mirador/
festival of ‘Figueres’ in
northern Catalonia,
Lookout and Nova gent/New people (the latter giving voice to singers belong-
featuring typical ing to the nova cançó3 movement), and also Miramar, a news programme
dances (sardanas) that was broadcast in Spanish for its first two years but thereafter in
and costumes that
contrasted strongly
Catalan, given uncertainties with regard to the political future of Spain.
with the mechanical Over and above the political common sense dictating such decisions
fair attractions. See and the vindication of an enclave for the Catalan language, this period in
http://www.rtve.es/
television/50anys/
the history of TVE Catalunya was typified by the recruitment of a whole
infantils/. Accessed new generation of producers who understood television differently from
21 February 2009. their forerunners. This entry of a new generation coincided with an across-
the-board change in aesthetics that was inspired by innovative develop-
ments in European television: the outcome being that TVE Catalunya took
in a number of young producers who put their finger on the pulse of social
and political changes on the horizon in Spain in that period. With hind-
sight, the most important of these producers, given their trajectories, were
Mercè Vilaret, Lluís Maria Güell and Sergi Schaff. Having been trained in
the drama area (Mercé Vilaret was, as it happens, the production assistant
to Jaume Picas for the first broadcast of La ferida lluminosa/Bright injury,
their vision of the new television was that it had to take to the streets –
and not just to create news programmes but also to shape other kinds of
programmes that would, one way or another, reflect social realities in
Catalonia. All three producers participated at one time or another in the
children’s programme, Terra d’escudella/Escudella Land (1977), which was
an excellent example of how synergies could be created between, on the
one hand, the producers who wanted to take the camera out of the studio
and, on the other hand, the street theatre groups combining traditional
and avant-garde concepts that had begun to appear in the 1970s.4
A television channel for Catalonia and an experimental

workshop for Spain
The years of transition from dictatorship to democracy were clearly con-
vulsive ones for the Miramar studios. In 1977 Sergi Schaff was appointed a
member of the communications media delegation to the Catalan Culture
Conference, during which a broad-ranging report was drawn up on the
history and existing situation of television in Catalonia. Some of the staff at
TVE Catalunya were interested in creating a third channel, in Catalan, for

Catalan-speaking regions, and – in these years when the administrative
and political map of Spain was being redrawn – it seems that this aspira-
tion could potentially have been given shape at any moment, as calls for
the implementation of this aim were constant. Indeed, the whole issue of a
Catalan television channel became central to political campaigning for the
first democratic elections to the Parliament of Catalonia in 1980, with one
of the key issues being whether this channel – which would depend on the
Parliament of Catalonia – would broadcast from the TVE Catalunya
premises or from its own premises. In June 1983, TVE Catalunya’s showy
new premises in Sant Cugat were inaugurated. Just a few months later, on
the occasion of Catalonia’s national day (the Diada) on 11 September,
Catalonia’s autonomous public television channel, TV3, was launched.
Conflict soon arose and became very evident between the management of
the two stations. The confrontation, which lasted some three years, led to
an erosion in the public image of TVE in Catalonia. In 1986, Pilar Miró
replaced José María Calviño as director of TVE and an agreement was
reached with TV3 that brought an end to the hostilities between the two
channels. This agreement, which implicitly confirmed that TVE Catalunya
would not roll out a channel for Catalonia, poured cold water on the aspi-
rations of many of the TVE Catalunya staff (Giró 1991: 36).
Despite political tensions, the new premises in Sant Cugat enabled the
number of production hours to be increased, both for the two national
channels and for the circuit català, whose broadcasting timetable had been
extended. Indeed, a token practice of previous decades now became firmly
entrenched, which was that of testing the waters with new programmes
in Catalonia and going nationwide if these were well received by the
Catalan public. Programmes that were piloted in Catalonia and that later
went on to great success nationwide included the talk show La lluna/The
Moon (Julia Otero, 1989) and the investigative programme Línea 900/Line
900 (1991), not to mention the children’s programme El planeta imagi-
nary/Imaginary Planet (Miquel Obiols, 1983), which was one of many pro-
grammes produced in Sant Cugat in this decade –others were Plàstic/
Plastic (Tinet Rubira, 1989) and Glasnost (Lulu Martorell, 1989)– that
viewed television as offering an opportunity for avant-garde creativity.
This period of creativity came to an abrupt and unfortunate end with
the crisis provoked by the programme El Camaleó/The Chameleon (1991),
created and directed by Miguel Ángel Martín and based on a postmodernist
parody of television reality carried through with the complicity of the
anthropologist Manuel Delgado. The first episode caused an enormous
scandal by transmitting a false news item informing the public of the death
of the President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. The journalistic profes-
sion, which had become fully consolidated in the new democracy, was
negatively affected in two ways. Firstly, the programme raised doubts about
media strategies in regard to realism and verisimilitude, and secondly, sev-
eral radio stations and newspapers fell for the hoax and retransmitted the
false news. A high price was paid: the remaining episodes (thirteen further
episodes had been projected for nationwide broadcast) were all cancelled
and there were a number of resignations and staff reshuffles that even
attracted the attention of the international press; Variety of 22 April 1991,
for example, had a headline as follows: ‘Gorby death hoax cost Barcelona

TV toppers jobs’. This scandal concluded a period of creative effervescence
and raised questions about the state of a democracy that was incapable of
dealing with this kind of internal criticism.
Neo-television and survival

Among the greatest achievements of TVE Catalunya in the last seventeen
years was the agreement entered into with TV3 to create the Olympic
Channel for the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 and the creation of
Teledeporte, a dedicated channel with the largest sports audience in Spain.
As for broadcasting, certain programmes have become well-established fea-
tures of Spanish television; these include the investigative programme Línea
900 – although subject to restrictions in the early 2000s for reasons that
were unclear – and also Gran Angular/Wide-angle Lens (Marisol Soto, 1997),
some of whose documentaries have won important awards at international
festivals. Gran Angular was also one of the first programmes to create a par-
allel universe on the Internet through its website, www.granangular.cat.
TVE Catalunya has also been the instigator of some of television’s biggest
success stories of recent years, with musical programmes such as Operación
Triunfo/Fame Academy (Tinet Rubira, 2001) and Mira quién baila/Strictly
Come Dancing, (Toni Cruz and Josep M. Mainat, 2005), and – following in a
long established children’s programming tradition – Los Lunnis (2003).
And although the quantity of fiction produced has fallen, a qualitative leap
was taken with the series Abuela de verano/Summer Grandma (Joaquim
Oristrell, 2005) – not only in terms of Catalan but also of Spanish fiction.
With this series, however, an opportunity was lost to reflect the linguistic
diversity that was a key aspect of the heterogeneity of the characters, who
came from a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Catalonia,
Andalusia, North Africa, etc).
In early 2006, Carmen Cafarell, director of TVE, announced her inten-
tion to eliminate broadcasts for the circuit català. This decision was moti-
vated by the fact that state public television was faced with enormous
debts and, in the process of drawing up a restructuring plan, had decided
on this as one area in which to make cost savings. Once again, TVE
Catalunya faced uncertainty in regard to its continuity – given the clear
absence of a specific project for the centre in the minds of the politicians.
Fortunately, following a mobilization of staff, this drastic cutback did not
materialize.
In mid-2007, circuit català programming brought to the small screen
Memòries de la tele/TV Memories (Nicolás Albéniz), a programme that com-
bined a certain nostalgia for past television programmes with a vindica-
tion of the station’s cultural role. In fifty years of existence, it seems clear
that TVE has been unable to envisage a clear project and continuity for
its Catalan studios, despite TVE Catalunya’s enormous contributions as
both a factory for new programmes and a training ground for television
professionals. Furthermore, its place and role in the Catalan television
scenario remains somewhat uncertain, due partly – but only partly – to
the omnipresence of TV3. Evidently, the possibility for defining and estab-
lishing a role for TVE in Catalonia relies on it somehow serving, from the
same studios, the two distinct audiences represented by the Spanish and
Catalan cultures and languages. Fifty years on, TVE Catalunya not only

draws on collective memories of the past stored in its archives but also
vindicates itself as belonging to the democratic inheritance of the coun-
try. Now is the time, perhaps, to consider television in Catalonia in a new
historical light.
Acknowledgements
This article was possible thanks to research project SEJ 2007/60389 funded by the
Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.
References
Giró, X. (1991), Conflictes de televisió a Catalunya: 1959–1990, Diputació de
Barcelona, Barcelona: Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya.
Palacio, M. (2001), Historia de la televisión en España, Barcelona: Gedisa.
Rodríguez Márquez, N. and Martín Uceda, J. (1992), La televisión: historia y
desarrollo (Los pioneros de la televisión), Barcelona: Mitre / RTVE.
TeleRadio (1964), Aprobación. No. 359, 9–15 November.
Suggested citation
Binimelis, M., Cerdán, J. and Labayen, M. F. (2009), ‘TVE Catalunya. Fifty years
of light and shade’, Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1: 1,
pp. 97–103, doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.97/7
Contributors details
Mar Binimelis Adell teaches at the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona) and at
the University of Vic. She is currently working on a thesis on transculturalism and
cinema. She coordinated the exhibition ‘Dones fotògrafes a Catalunya’, financed
by the Institut Català de la Dona.
Contact: Departament de Comunicació, Universitat de Vic, C. Sagrada Família, 8,
08500 Vic.
E-mail: marbinimelis@yahoo.es
Josetxo Cerdán Los Arcos teaches at the Department of Communication Studies

of the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona). He is author of Ricardo Urgoiti. Los
trabajos y los días (Filmoteca Española, 2007), and has published widely on Spanish
cinema and on the history of television in Spain.
Contact: Department of Communication Studies, Rovira i Virgili University, Av.
Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona.
E-mail: josetxo.cerdan@urv.cat
Miguel Fernández Labayen is an assistant professor at the Universitat Autònoma

de Barcelona. He has edited a special issue of Secuencias. Revista de Historia del Cine,
devoted to contemporary film and television comedy, and has contributed to sev-
eral collective volumes on Spanish cinema and television.
Contact: Departament de Comunicació Audiovisual, Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, Edifici I, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra.
E-mail: mflabayen@yahoo.com

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Platform For Success? The Scottish

Broadcasting Commission 2008
Peter Lynch University of Stirling
Introduction
The Scottish Broadcasting Commission was established in August 2007
by the devolved Scottish government to examine the condition of the
broadcast media in Scotland and set out an agenda for change. It began its
work in October 2007. The political circumstances of the Commission’s
creation were notable. It was established by an SNP minority government
that had narrowly emerged as the largest party at the Scottish election of
May 2007, with the ultimate policy goal of Scottish independence as well
as interim goals such as seeing power for broadcasting (and other areas)
transferred to the Scottish Parliament. The election propelled the
Commission’s formation, but the agenda of issues that it would examine
had been around in the Scottish media sector for some time and certainly
since devolution began in 1999. Broadcasting was a reserved power of the
UK government under devolution, yet devolution brought considerable
challenges to national organizations such as the BBC, which had to bal-
ance coverage of the new devolved parliaments with an existing UK
agenda. The conflict in this area surfaced early with demands for the so-
called ‘Scottish Six’, an integrated Scottish-produced national news bulle-
tin that would be broadcast at six o’clock in the evening instead of the
existing regional service.
However, a range of other issues were also important such as: the
decline of Scottish produced programmes on network TV, which damaged
the economic basis of Scottish broadcasting; the lack of coverage of Scottish
affairs on UK-wide networks (examined in the King Report commissioned
by the BBC Trust in 2008); and the need for greater Scottish representation
in the media regulator Ofcom. The backdrop of the Commission report was
the continued London-centric nature of media institutions – with all five
UK-wide news programmes produced in London – as well as the rapid
decrease in Scotland’s share of programme production and funding, which
were seen to reflect metropolitan commissioning practices by the BBC and
Channel 4. In this environment there was a concern that the Scottish
media sector was becoming marginalised, in a period in which public sec-
tor broadcasting was under review by media regulator Ofcom and the
broadcasting framework was set to change markedly with the transition to
digital TV across the UK from 2008 to 2012. Therefore the work of the
Scottish Broadcasting Commission coincided with a period in which major
change was on the horizon, including digitalisation, which also brought
considerable opportunities. However, rather than just diagnose the various
CJCS_1.1_09_Lynch_105-110.indd 105 7/22/09 11:25:37 AM

ills of Scottish broadcasting, the Commission was tasked with pointing the
way towards some cures. In this sense, its report can be viewed as a prime
example of agenda setting – in producing a set of proposals for a variety of
Scottish and UK institutions to address. It was also quite clear that it wanted
to look at broadcasting in its own right. Its report stated clearly that ‘broad-
casting should not serve as a surrogate for the constitutional debate in
Scotland’ (Scottish Broadcasting Commission 2008). Therefore, though
driven in part by the constitutional debate, the Commission sought to
remove party politics from its deliberations to ensure cross-party support
for its investigation and report.
Scotland as a communicative space

Similar to other stateless nations, Scotland makes for an interesting exam-
ple of a ‘communicative space’; it has elements of its own media (especially
newspapers) as well as regional branches of the UK media, whilst also
receiving broadcasting without much Scottish dimension at all. This pat-
tern of media production and consumption creates a range of tensions and
conflicts about mediation, representation, national identity, economics
and the demand for political autonomy (Schlesinger 2008: 16) and a com-
municative space that is also a political space, especially since devolution
brought about the creation of an autonomous Scottish Parliament and
government in 1999 (Schlesinger 2008: 36). The devolved structure was
not made responsible for broadcasting, which was reserved to Westminster
(the UK parliament), but is responsible for film and culture through agen-
cies such as Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council (soon to be
merged into Creative Scotland). Since devolution, there has been intermit-
tent interest in the media by the Scottish government and parliament,
mostly focused on the deliberations of the Culture Commission in 2005,
though this body had little institutional impact. The establishment of an
SNP minority government in 2007 altered the political framework for dis-
cussion about the media substantially and saw the government establish
the Scottish Broadcasting Commission with a focus on broadcasting as
important to the economic, cultural and democratic health of Scotland.
Commission formation and functioning

The Commission was established in September 2007 with three specific
functions: to recommend Scottish government action under its existing
devolved powers; to focus attention and action on issues where other
organizations have responsibility; and to identify matters for further debate
in the Scottish Parliament. In this sense it had a role in producing an
agenda of issues for devolved institutions such as the government and par-
liament, associated organizations dealing with culture and economic
development in Scotland as well as UK-wide media organizations such as
the BBC, Channel 4 and Ofcom (the media regulator). The Commission
was cross-party in nature – with representatives from the Conservatives,
Greens, Labour (the former First Minister), Liberal Democrats and SNP –
as well as members of the media industry in Scotland at different levels.
The Commission’s investigation was divided into three parts, dealing with
the economics of media in Scotland, the issue of culture and also the issue
of democracy. The Commission sought evidence on these issues from the
106 Peter Lynch
CJCS_1.1_09_Lynch_105-110.indd 106 7/1/09 1:15:02 PM

media industry in Scotland, plus a variety of interested individuals and 1. See Commission
website, http://www.
organizations, and produced three interim reports before the publication scottishbroadcasting-
of the final report in September 2008. It held eleven different public events commission.gov.uk/
around Scotland, consulted with youth organizations and commissioned
research into international approaches to broadcasting as well as audi-
ence views of the media in Scotland.1 It also took evidence from organiza-
tions central to broadcasting such as the BBC, Channel 4 and Ofcom – and
these meetings can be seen not only as evidence sessions but also impor-
tant for both accountability and lobbying on behalf of Scotland. The aim
of the Commission report was to focus attention and propose solutions
that would help establish a broadcasting framework that would enable
high quality creative content to be produced in Scotland, with better TV
and digital services and more choice on Scottish media platforms.
Commission report and implications

The Commission produced a variety of proposals for action in relation to
broadcasting. The most radical proposal involved the establishment of a
Scottish public sector TV channel, with a budget of around £75 million
funded through the existing BBC licence fee arrangements. The transition
to digital TV made this development possible – as it created space for more
channels – and the launch of the Gaelic-language channel ‘BBC Alba’ in
September 2008 (for an audience of around 60,000 Gaelic speakers) pro-
vided a clear and contemporary example of the opportunities for high
quality public sector programming. Second, the Commission sought to
reverse the decline in Scottish network TV production by ensuring that
8.6 per cent of BBC production comes from Scotland by 2012 (8.6 per
cent is Scotland’s population share of the UK), that Channel 4 should also
aim at 8.6 per cent production from Scotland and that Channel 4 should
base one of its commissioning departments in Scotland. Third, the BBC,
Channel 4 and the new Scottish network should seek to strengthen and
diversify the production sector in Scotland. Fourth, Scottish Enterprise
(the economic development agency), Skills Development Scotland and
Skillset (the UK-wide media training organization) should work to estab-
lish economic planning and training for media production, whilst Creative
Scotland (the new arts and culture agency) would assume a leadership
role in coordinating the various economic development and media indus-
try organizations. Fifth, the Scottish Parliament and government would be
given key monitoring and advocacy roles in relation to broadcasting, with
a transfer of some operational broadcasting functions from the UK govern-
ment to Scottish Ministers. Finally, the Commission proposed a strength-
ening of Scottish representation on the media regulator Ofcom, as well as
annual monitoring of Scottish broadcasting and audience demands by the
BBC Trust and Ofcom.
The proposals of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission were released
into a fairly positive environment. The report raised some of the consen-
sual issues put forward by the Cultural Commission in 2005 and retained
a strong level of cross-party agreement. In addition, it was produced in a
period in which the BBC in particular had become sensitive to its role as a
UK-wide broadcaster that needed to represent all four nations of the UK.
The King Report, commissioned by the BBC Trust in October 2007, offered
Platform For Success? The Scottish Broadcasting Commission 2008 107

a prime example of this concern (BBC Trust 2008). The report examined
the accuracy and impartiality of network news coverage of the four UK
nations and produced a number of examples of a London-centric BBC fail-
ing to report accurately on political developments in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. The report generated an action plan for BBC news by
the BBC’s management as well as a debate over changes by the BBC Trust.
The King Report made two specific points that echoed the Scottish
Broadcasting Commission’s position. First, the King Report suggested that
BBC News should be moved out of London entirely to remove the London-
centric bias within the news. This suggestion was not a serious proposi-
tion, but did raise a radical solution to the issue of metropolitan bias in
news and current affairs. Second, the King Report made the argument
that a Scottish BBC channel was not an unrealistic proposition given digi-
talisation and the launch of the Gaelic TV channel for a vastly smaller
audience (BBC Trust 2008: 83).
The future
The report of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission was not just about
diagnosis and cure, but also about engaging other Scottish organizations
in the debate over broadcasting as well as providing an agenda setting
role for institutions. In this sense, the Commission gave other key Scottish
organizations some specific tasks to pursue. For the Scottish government,
the Commission report provided three particular goals to pursue. First,
the Scottish government would use its political position to seek to ensure
Scottish broadcasters and producers received their fair share of UK net-
work production. Second, the government proposed to pursue the idea of
a Scottish public sector channel, funded by the existing BBC licence fee.
Third, the government would seek to ensure that Scottish representation
in Ofcom and UK-wide media organizations was increased to allow for
greater accountability and diversity (Salmond 2008). In addition to the
government, the Scottish Parliament has also become more engaged in
the issue of the media as a consequence of the Scottish Broadcasting
Commission. The Commission report was debated within the chamber of
the parliament and the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture com-
mittee took evidence from the Commission on several occasions as well
as from the media regulator Ofcom (Scottish Parliament Education
2008). Parliamentary actors have therefore become animated to exam-
ine the condition of the Scottish media and examine some of the
Commission’s agenda. Third, the Commission on Scottish Devolution,
established by the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament and UK
government, identified the issue of broadcasting as one area in which
some responsibility might be devolved to Scotland (Commission on
Scottish Devolution 2008).
A key question to consider is whether the Scottish Broadcasting
Commission inquiry and report brought any changes to UK broadcasting
policy. In the short term, two positive developments were clear. First,
that the BBC committed itself to increasing Scotland’s share of network
production to 8.6 per cent by 2016 (not 2012 as the Commission
sought). Second, the fact that the BBC Trust established the King inquiry
in 2007 was evidence of the Commission’s impact. King’s analysis and
108 Peter Lynch

report provided useful support for the Commission’s diagnosis and pro-
posals. Furthermore, the King Report’s findings were not just important
for Scotland and the Commission but also had relevance for other parts
of the UK – most obviously Northern Ireland and Wales – and the issue
of territorial broadcasting and funding in these areas too. However,
despite this positive environment, major challenges exist in relation to
the commitment of UK institutions to accommodate territorial demands
such as those raised by the Commission.
Conclusion
The Commission and its report can be viewed as a prime example of
agenda setting. The Commission succeeded in getting the media sector in
Scotland, Scottish political institutions, public agencies and UK institu-
tions to engage with some of the key challenges facing broadcasting in
Scotland. It also managed to do this with cross-party support whilst side-
stepping the difficulties of addressing an issue that involved the constitu-
tional debate – in addition to a conflict of powers between devolved
institutions and the UK government. How other institutions in Scotland
and at the UK level respond to the proposals advanced by the Scottish
Broadcasting Commission will determine the Commission’s success in the
longer term, as it is other bodies that are responsible for investigating and
implementing the Commission’s proposals. The Commission set the
agenda to some extent, but implementation of significant changes is a
more difficult issue, especially when it involves radical proposals such as
a Scottish digital TV channel. The Commission’s work is therefore the
start of a process. However, two other aspects are worth mentioning.
First, the Scottish debate orchestrated by the Commission is nested within
a wider UK debate about the future of public service broadcasting and of
BBC operations across the UK. In that sense the Commission became a
participant in an ongoing debate about the future of the sector. Second,
the Commission’s work was focused on Scotland, but did have clear impli-
cations for other parts of the BBC network in particular, such as Northern
Ireland, Wales and the English regions. Other territorial actors within the
UK have the opportunity to use the Commission’s work as a platform for
their own demands.
References
BBC Trust (2008), ‘The BBC Trust Impartiality Report: BBC Network News and
Current Affairs Coverage of the Four UK Nations’. London: BBC Trust.
Commission on Scottish Devolution (2008), ‘The Future of Scottish Devolution
within the Union: A First Report’, Edinburgh: Scotland Office.
Salmond, Alex (2008), First Minister, Official Report, Scottish Parliament, 8
October, col.11554.
Schlesinger, Philip (2008), ‘Communications Policy’, in Neil Blain and David
Hutchison (eds), The Media in Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
pp. 35–51.
Scottish Broadcasting Commission (2008), Platform for Success, Edinburgh:
Scottish Government.
Scottish Parliament Education (2008), ‘Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee’,
Official Report, 11 June and 24 September.
Platform For Success? The Scottish Broadcasting Commission 2008 109

Suggested citation
Lynch, P. (2009), ‘Platform For Success? The Scottish Broadcasting Commission
2008’, Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1: 1, pp. 105–110,
doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.105/7
Contributor details
Peter Lynch is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling. He writes and
researches on devolution, Scotland and regionalist parties in Europe. He is author
of SNP: The History of the Scottish National Party (Welsh Academic Press, Cardiff,
2002) and co-editor of Autonomist Parties in Europe (ICPS, Barcelona, 2006).
Contact: Department of Politics, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland,
United Kingdom.
E-mail: p.a.lynch@stir.ac.uk
110 Peter Lynch

Transparency in the structure of the

Catalan communication system: The
Communication and Culture Barometer
Andreu Casero Universitat Jaume I de Castelló
What and what for: the need for a barometer

At the beginning of 2003, the Catalan Space for Communication and
Culture (ESCACC) Foundation initiated a long-awaited project: an audi-
ence measurement study specifically addressed to Catalan-speaking areas
(Catalonia, the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands). Following a
series of initial reports, the Communication and Culture Audiences
Foundation (FUNDACC) was created, with the aim of promoting a new
instrument known as the Communication and Culture Barometer.
Fieldwork began in 2007 to gather the first data, which was published on
28 February 2008. This date represents a remarkable watershed: the end
of opacity in the Catalan communication system, which finally gained
access to rigorous information on the consumer habits and media and cul-
tural practices occurring within its boundaries.
The reasons behind the creation of the barometer are diverse and com-
plex, and therefore must be sought at various levels. The first of these is
the conviction that the Catalan geographical area, understood in its wid-
est sense, enjoys a set of specific cultural features that make it unique and
set it apart from other cultural contexts (Gifreu 2006). This fact affirms
the existence of a singular communication and cultural reality, marked
amongst other aspects by the presence of its own language (Catalan) and
a defined cultural identity. These aspects generate the appearance of a cul-
tural dynamic with a certain autonomy vis-à-vis the Spanish culture: a
circumstance that has led various authors to define this situation in terms
of ‘a Catalan communication space’ (Gifreu 1983; Gifreu and Corominas
1991; Gifreu 2007).
Despite this specific differentiated configuration, Catalan culture and
its dynamics have remained hidden (Cardús 2008: 226) and any detailed
knowledge of its own consumer practices and habits have been foggy at
best, which has considerably hindered the consolidation of local cultural
industries. Without specific data on these issues, the economic exploita-
tion and optimisation of local media business is a complex process. The
invisibility of the Catalan communication system, understood as a market,
must be sought in the influence that the political sphere has over commu-
nication structures, amongst other factors. In recent decades, the European
Union has abandoned the development of communication policies that
address the communication, cultural and linguistic realities of stateless
CJCS_1.1_10_Casero_111-118.indd 111 7/1/09 1:38:43 PM

nations, leaving the management and administration of cultural diversity
in the hands of central states (Moragas 2008: 280). This situation has had
a particular impact on the specific communication systems found within
the Spanish context, such as the Catalan, Basque and Galician systems. As
a direct consequence, these spheres have been defined as ‘peripheral cul-
tures’ (Cardús 2008: 225), with all the marginalisation and isolation that
the centrally defined dynamics of cultural industries imply.
Nonetheless, it is clearly evident that the Catalan communication sys-
tem, in its broadest sense, constitutes a cultural reality of 13 million peo-
ple. A priori, the existence of this potential audience would suggest that a
market provided with sufficient economic weight should feasibly be able to
support a series of local cultural industries. However, in order to lay the
foundations for this market, specific data on Catalan media consumption
and audiences are, once again, vital. Without these data, advertising rev-
enue, the mainstay of most media financing, lacks a suitable framework
within which to operate and grow. Hence, the second crucial reason
behind the creation of the barometer was the need to obtain audience data
on the Catalan communication system using technically rigorous method-
ology designed to provide information at a micro level in the local and
regional field.
The main questionnaire-based audience measurement system used in
Spain is the Estudio General de Medios (General Media Study, EGM), which
operates at a state level. It is therefore more concerned with the Spanish
communication system as a whole than with the various local or regional
systems, such as the Catalan system. This approach is reflected in both the
design of the interviewee sample – only 11,000 people in Catalonia as
compared to the 29,828 covered by the barometer in the same area – and
in the results it produces. These results systematically ignore the reality of
Catalan communication, and thus result in significant omissions: the EGM
does not include the audiences of Catalan public radio and television (TV3
and Catalunya Ràdio) in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country
(Busquet 2008: 188), where, despite reaching beyond existing legal
boundaries, their broadcasts are received. Consequently, this type of state-
based system, while useful in determining general patterns for the Spanish
system, is inefficient to accurately determine media and cultural consumer
habits for local and regional systems such as the Catalan system.
Undertaking to create a system that measures its own audiences is not
without risks. So long as the situation remains foggy, certain self-interested
assumptions about audience behaviour can still be upheld, but once the
fog is dispelled by applying tools that shed light on the matter, for better or
worse, the full picture becomes clear. In other words, the existence of spe-
cific data allows transparency to penetrate a hitherto opaque communica-
tion system. As a result, new growth opportunities open up; as rigorous
audience information becomes available, the basis on which advertising
revenue is calculated, and weaknesses, previously hidden in the fog, are
also uncovered. Nonetheless, the availability of specific in-depth data does
make Catalan communication entities and cultural industries competitive
(Cardús et al. 2007: 24) in market terms. Those are essential factors for
the construction of solid structures able to support a local media and com-
munication system.
112 Andreu Casero

How: the barometer methodology
As mentioned above, the barometer uses a questionnaire-based methodol-
ogy to obtain data on cultural and communication consumption and the
social penetration of the Catalan cultural industries. To this end, the main
questionnaire is constructed around three large variable study groups.
First, the traditional communication media: newspapers, magazines, radio,
television and outside advertising. Second, a whole series of relevant cul-
tural industries, from a wide conceptual base, are considered: Internet,
music, cinema, video games and mobile telephony. Types of cultural con-
sumption that fall outside the media system are also included in this block,
such as live performance and exhibition attendance. Finally, the third block
consists of qualitative variables to gather audience information: socio-de-
mographic profile (sex, age, marital status, education, employment situa-
tion, income, social class, place of birth, etc.), linguistic profile (skills, usual
language, maternal language, etc.), ideological profile (political and
national position), lifestyle (cultural and leisure activities, hours of activity
and schedule structure) and finally, geographical area of residence.
The barometer’s sample universe covers the population over the age of
fourteen in all the Catalan-speaking areas. The sample, taken randomly, has
a confidence level of 95.5 per cent and an overall margin of error of 0.5 per
cent, and consists of 39,159 personal interviews carried out in the individu-
al’s home. The size of the sample illustrates the ambition of the audience
measurement instrument: by comparison, the EGM – a study with similar
methodology although at a state level – carries out 43,741 interviews across
the whole of Spain. In addition, the barometer performs continuous field-
work and publishes its results in three four-monthly stages.
The sample design for the barometer’s main questionnaire clearly dif-
ferentiates between geographical areas. Firstly, it distinguishes a series of
areas that comprise the central sphere of its activity from others that come
within a secondary sphere. The first group, in which continuous audience
interviews are carried out, includes Catalonia, the Valencian Country and
the Balearic Islands. In contrast, the second group comprises bordering ter-
ritories where the language is used, but which fall outside the boundaries
of the Catalan communication system. These include the Principality of
Andorra, North Catalonia, located inside the French state, and the Western
Strip, which forms part of another Spanish region, Aragon. In these three
cases, information is gathered twice a year from a sample of 2,533 people
(Cardús et al. 2007: 52) as compared to the 39,159 in the central region.
An examination of how the sample is distributed within the areas
included in the barometer’s central sphere of study is also pertinent. From
the technical data (Cardús et al. 2007: 54–55), we can see that there is no
direct correlation between the population and the sample in the design of
the barometer’s main questionnaire. Table 1 shows that while 52 per cent
of the inhabitants of the Catalan-speaking areas analysed are found in
Catalonia, they account for 76 per cent of the total sample. In contrast,
the Valencian Country, despite accounting for 41 per cent of the popula-
tion, only represents 18 per cent of the sample. Consequently, although
Valencian Country data are corrected with an upward weighted index, the
methodological design of this instrument can be said to have significant
internal imbalances and reveals a predominance of the Catalan-centric
Transparency in the structure of the Catalan communication system 113

Population
(total) % Sample %
Catalonia 5,273,904 52 Catalonia 29,828 76
Valencian 4,202,608 41 Valencian 6,975 18

Country Country
Balearic 760,379 7 Balearic 2,351 6

Islands Islands
Source: Author’s own, based on data taken from Cardús et al. 2007.
Table 1: Comparison between population and sample in the barometer’s central
areas.
vision in the conception of the Catalan communication and cultural sys-

tem. This vision will become further pronounced if claims are confirmed
that surveys in the Valencian Country are to be temporarily suspended in
2009, as stated by the managing director of FUNDACC, Joan Sabaté.
This sample design bias reappears when a geographical analysis is per-
formed on the divisions of the three large areas in the barometer’s main
questionnaire. While Catalonia is divided into 41 sections, each corre-
sponding to a comarca or administrative district, the Valencian Country
are broken down into just seven large sections despite having a total of 33
comarcas, and the Balearic Islands are divided into three zones. Thus, while
this territorial breakdown enables a very detailed data to be gathered on
the communication and cultural behaviour of audiences in Catalonia,
data quality deteriorates in the other two regions. In this way, a wealth of
information is lost on local consumption and media in the Valencian
Country and the Balearic Islands, which constitute one of the cornerstones
of the Catalan communication system (Moragas 2008: 281).
The barometer’s initial results: old certainties, new realities

Although still in its infancy – the first data refer to 2007 – the barometer
has already provided some interesting information on cultural consumption
and the media diet of audiences in Catalan-speaking areas. These initial
results empirically confirm some of the presumptions and peculiarities tradi-
tionally attributed to the Catalan communication system, but at the same
time, they uncover notable new aspects – all of which provide us with a
fresh, detailed picture of the system’s structure and operating dynamics.
In general terms, two of these ratifications stand out. First, the crisis
affecting the written press is verified (only 39.8 per cent of the population
read newspapers), the predominance of television is confirmed (88.6 per
cent watch television) and the huge dimensions of the digital divide are
corroborated (only 26.6 per cent of the population use Internet). The sec-
ond ratification concerns the fact that no one media is capable of coordi-
nating and covering the Catalan communication system as a whole. The
three main areas (Catalonia, the Valencian Country and the Balearic
Islands) operate somewhat in a vacuum, having little contact with each
other in terms of media consumption. Furthermore, those responsible for
drawing together this sphere of communication are the Spanish media,
114 Andreu Casero

whose activities are grounded on a state-based logic. Thus, one of the
great contradictions that has historically gripped the Catalan communica-
tion system is perpetuated (Tresserras 2000). This raises serious doubts
about the existence and the future construction of this system as an
autonomous communication space.
This lack of locally produced media to support the Catalan communi-
cation system is especially evident in the written press. Barometer data
from 2007 reveal that no newspaper is capable of playing this role. Indeed,
the large Barcelona papers (El Periódico de Catalunya and La Vanguardia)
are scarcely read in the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands.
Similarly, the Valencian and Balearic press is incapable of reaching beyond
the boundaries of their own regions. The study also evidences the success
of the popular press model, since, on a general level, four of the six leading
newspapers are of this type. Taken together, the quality press has a total
of 1,008,000 readers per day as compared to the 2,251,000 reported by
the popular press.
Concerning radio, the barometer reveals the growing strength of the
all-music stations, led by ‘Los 40 Principales’. Of the all-talk stations, with
the exception of Catalonia where Catalunya Ràdio leads with 534,000
listeners, ‘Cadena SER’ has the highest audiences. This data exposes the
weakness of the regional public radio station in both the Balearic Islands,
where IB3 Ràdio has only 6,000 listeners, essentially because it is a young
station, but particularly in the Valencian Country where, as a result of las-
situde and political disinterest, ‘Ràdio Nou’ takes thirteenth place in the
classification with only 46,000 listeners per day.
In the area of television, some of the above-mentioned parameters are
repeated. Across all the Catalan-speaking areas, the large Spanish televi-
sion companies (‘Antena 3’ and ‘Tele 5’) have the largest audience share
according to the barometer’s 2007 data. In addition, only 27.6 per cent
watch television in their own language, compared to 68 per cent of view-
ers who do so in Spanish. Despite the fact that in Catalonia the public
regional television company, TV3, is the audience leader with a share of
20.8 per cent, its impact in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country
is negligible: 3 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Among the most notable of the barometer’s revelations, three are
worth particular mention. First, the data shows that the 25–44-year-old
target audience predominates in consumption of cultural and media prod-
ucts, taking the top position in all sections covered in the study. Second,
the 14–24-year-old audience listen to the radio more (54.2 per cent of this
audience sector) than those over 65 (42.2 per cent), belying the notion
that radio audiences consist of older generations. Finally, initial results
from the barometer reveal that progress towards multimedia convergence
is slow. To date, the use of mobile telephones to watch television or audio-
visual content (only 0.2 per cent of the audience), access Internet (3 per
cent of those surveyed), listen to the radio (6.5 per cent) or music (11.5
per cent) has incorporated very few new users.
The question of access

With the exception of a brief set of summaries provided free of charge on
each of the three stages of the main questionnaire and on specific reports,

access to barometer data is through prepayment. The FUNDACC offers
personalised services for the exploitation of its database to create reports
tailored to the needs of its potential clients. In this way, the barometer
upholds an established tradition among audience measurement systems:
charging for its services. This situation puts the question of access at the
top of the agenda.
The problem of access particularly affects researchers studying the
structure, the operating dynamics, and media and culture consumer ten-
dencies in the Catalan communication system. One of the main obstacles
these academics systematically face is the difficulty of accessing audience
behaviour data. The global summaries provided are insufficient when one
considers the wealth of data that an instrument like the barometer could
offer. A fundamental innovation would therefore be to provide access to
academics who put forward serious and rigorous research projects with
no financial gain to themselves; this access should not simply be at a
reduced cost but free of charge, with the aim of contributing to a better
understanding of the reasoning that governs the Catalan communication
system. Naturally, it is coherent and desirable for the barometer to be
capable of self-financing; however, resources should be derived from com-
munication companies, which in turn must understand that the informa-
tion this new instrument provides represents an added value with which
to optimise their commercial strategies.
The full incorporation of academics into the barometer will only occur
if they are able to integrate barometer data into their research and studies:
therefore, barometer’s commitment to improve calls for changes in the
current parameters of action and the generalisation of the use of its data
among the academic community. This can only be achieved through a
policy that facilitates access to its representatives in regulated yet advan-
tageous conditions. Only then will the barometer truly provide the infra-
structure to serve the Catalan country and culture, as those responsible
for its management claim (Cardús 2008).
This new instrument clearly serves an important purpose in offering
information of exceptional interest. Its information not only contributes to
guiding market strategies in the cultural industries operating in the
Catalan-speaking areas, by improving benefits and effectiveness for adver-
tisers, but will also provide the base on which to design and unfold public
policies addressed to strengthen the Catalan communication system. The
barometer offers a historical opportunity to expand knowledge on Catalan
audience behaviour, as regards media and culture, from an empirical view-
point. In today’s globalised context, it is increasingly vital to shed light on
the Catalan communication system. In sum, it plays a fundamental role in
standardising the Catalan communication system once and for all.
References
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tat’, Trípodos, Extra 2008, in memoriam Daniel E. Jones, pp. 185–190.
Cardús, Salvador et al. (2007), El Baròmetre i les necessitats estadístiques del sector de
la comunicació, Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya.
Cardús, Salvador (2008), ‘El Baròmetre de la Comunicació i la Cultura: una infrae-
structura de país’, Cultura, 2 , pp. 224–231.
116 Andreu Casero

Gifreu, Josep (1983), Sistema i polítiques de comunicació a Catalunya. Premsa, ràdio,
televisió i cinema, Barcelona: L’Avenç.
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cació, Barcelona: Centre d’Investigació de la Comunicació.
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català, Barcelona: Pòrtic.
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http://www.escacc.org/docroot/escacc/pdf/Conferencia_escacc.pdf. Accessed
13 December 2008.
Moragas, Miquel de (2008), ‘Communication and Cultural Policies of Non-State
Nations: The Experience of Catalonia’, in Isabel Fernández Alonso and Miquel
de Moragas (eds), Communication and Cultural Policies in Europe, Barcelona:
Generalitat de Catalunya, pp. 271–290.
Tresserras, Joan Manuel (2000), ‘La comunicació a la Catalunya del segle XX’,
L’Avenç, 243, pp. 68–74.
Suggested citation
Casero, A. (2009), ‘Transparency in the structure of the Catalan communication sys-
tem: The Communication and Culture Barometer’, Catalan Journal of Communication
& Cultural Studies 1: 1, pp. 111–117, doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.111/7
Contributor details
Andreu Casero is Senior Lecturer of Structure of Communication System and
Cultural Industries at the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló (Spain). He writes and
researches on the structure of communication systems, cultural industries, politi-
cal communication and journalism theory. Among other works, he is author of
La construcción mediática de las crisis políticas (Fragua, 2008) and co-editor (with
J. Marzal) of El desarrollo de la televisión digital en España (Netbiblo, 2007). He is
Vice-Dean of Journalism in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Contact: Universitat Jaume I, Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials, Campus del
Riu Sec, Avda. Vicent Sos Baynat s/n, 12071 Castelló de la Plana (Spain).
E-mail: casero@com.uji.es

“ Ideas won’t keep,
something must be done about them.
Alfred North Whitehead
”
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CJCS_1.1_10_Casero_111-118.indd 118 8/6/09 9:10:23 AM

Gateway
Segundo de Chomón and the early years

of cinema: a revisionist perspective1
Joan M. Minguet Batllori Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Abstract Keywords
Segundo de Chomón is the Spanish film-maker from the silent era with a wider Chomón
international dimension. But the study about him needs a permanent reformula- early cinema
tion. First of all, due to the shortage of data about the specific moves in his career cinema of attractions
in the framework of cinema in its early years. Secondly, due to the harmful nature Spanish cinema
of some clichés told about him (‘pioneer of Spanish cinema’, ‘the Spanish Méliès’).
This paper offers a starting point for a revision of Chomón’s work, from theoretical
considerations and particular films, including Le Vie et passion de N.S. Jesús
Christ, Le fils du diable, Le courant électrique or Symphonie bizarre.
1. This article is pub-

As far as analysis is concerned the early years of cinema is the historical lished with the
period which requires most rethinking, given the number of received permission of the
journal Secuencias.
ideas that have been propagated by critics and historians who experi- Revista de Historia
enced those years (some in a fragmented way) or who obtained firsthand del Cine, where the
accounts from protagonists or members of the public who attended cine- work was originally
published in Issue 26
mas in the first two decades of the twentieth century. I refer to historians in the second half of
and critics such as Georges Sadoul and Jean Mitry in France, and Sebastià 2007. Translation
Gasch and Ángel Zúñiga in Spain. Sadoul was a perspicacious man of let- from the Spanish by
Ailish M. J. Maher.
ters, member of the Surrealists and an active Communist, whose brilliant Images has been
Histoire générale du cinéma (1940) is relevant even today. However, his reproduced with
general diagnosis of this period based on the concept of ‘filmed theatre’ – the permission of
Filmoteca de Catalunya.
the search for narrative precedents and the newness of morphological
resources – represents an analytical frame that fosters error to this day.
Consequently, a review of both received ideas and analytical frames
seems not only relevant but also absolutely necessary. The cinema of the
early years (le cinéma des premiers temps, as French historiography labels
the period) refers not just to the early years of cinema from a chronologi-
cal perspective – as the concept of cinema was not yet as fully articulated
as it would be just a few years later. Leaving aside the fact that these were
indeed the early years of cinema, the immediate popularity of the first pub-
lic projections of moving images was another issue, as they represented an
encounter between visual devices engendered in a newly industrialised
CJCS_1.1_11_Gat_Minguest_119-133.indd 119 7/1/09 2:27:39 PM

society – the kind of spectacle that was popular in the closing years of the
nineteenth century and the tensions arising from early assemblages
between popular and high culture. For some years (ten, maybe fifteen,
depending on the cultural system of each country), the cinema hall was a
sociocultural crossroads offering a privileged view of the emerging land-
scape of a culture of the masses. This process would take deeper hold sub-
sequently, but not at this particular point of encounter. Rather, a
consummation of cinema as a space presided over by narrative would
eventually lead to a dis-encounter with the visual devices and with the
shows that were so popular at the turn of the century.
The study frames used by Sadoul are, in the Spanish case, even more
inapt. Most traditional historiographic perspectives have been applied on
the assumption that the early years of cinema unfolded in a similar way in
all countries. This was clearly not the case, however. Spanish society was
evidently less developed – and not just in industrial, social and political
terms – and its lack of development and specific cultural situation led to a
greater gap between encounters and dis-encounters compared to more
developed parts of Europe and the USA. The cultural situation in regard to
leisure systems was precarious in Spain, given the limited possibilities as
far as popular shows were concerned and given deficiencies in regard to
the emerging culture of the masses. Space does not permit me to venture
further in this unexplored territory. However, an explanation – evidently
composed of a number of secondary explanations – must be found for the
anaemia of Spanish cinematography in its early years. What is clear is
that the explanation will not be found – or, at least, will not be exclusively
found – in the creation of a taxonomy of a series of anecdotes referring to
the arrival of cinema to Spain’s cities, provinces, towns and villages. What
we need is to develop a discourse and put forward hypotheses that high-
light differences in cinema and film between Spain and other neighbouring
countries that developed a kind of cinema adapted to their public.
It is precisely the public which has been ignored in studies of early cin-
ema in Spain; furthermore, this will continue to be the case as long as we
insist on applying positivist perspectives because we have hardly have any
data on the public for that period. All we can do is draw inferences from
comments in gossip columns, memories recorded in autobiographies, gen-
eral deductions based on uncertain information, etc. What is more, what
data we do have is usually in the form of epistemological flashbacks. It
makes no sense to know which films were most popular in a given city or
town under the illusion that we can thus draw inferences about the prefer-
ences of that population. These parameters only became valid – if at all –
once cinema was institutionalised. In the early years of the implantation of
a new leisure phenomenon in western capitalist society, the public did not
as yet heed the call of actors and actresses, and even less so, that of direc-
tors or producers. Nor did the public come to cinema hall on the promise of
a narrative – even if latent in some films (or latent, according to Gaudreault,
in all films and in all scenes). It seems to me that Juan Miguel Company
was absolutely right in asserting the following:
Let it be said once and for all. The spectator of a Lumière film is not the same
as the spectator of a Biograph Studios short by Griffith twelve years later.
120 Joan M. Minguet Batllori

Narrative exists as long as there is a film-spectator narrative pact that makes
it possible.
(Company 2003: 60–61)
However, this pact did not exist in the early years of cinematography.
Cinema became established as a diversion, as a spectacle in itself – like
variety shows, fairs, the circus, etc. Indeed, like the circuses at the close of
the nineteenth century, with clowns, magicians, acrobats, etc, cinema
was considered by the public to be composed of different acts; what was
meaningful was not the film as parts, but the session as a whole.
In view of this analytical panorama, how should we interpret Segundo
de Chomón? Or, more precisely, how should we approach an analysis of
his film trajectory? In reality, what we need to establish is whether there
was, in fact, a cinema of Chomón. It would be absurd to view – or endeav-
our to view – Chomón’s images as isolated from the iconic continuum that
was early cinema. Is it possible to identify, in this continuum, styles, traits
or evidence of enunciation that were truly unique to Chomón? And when
I say ‘unique to Chomón’, I refer to marked distinctiveness from Gaston
Velle, Ferdinand Zecca, Emile Cohl, Charles L. Lepine and even Méliès. The
fact is that cinematographic studies have been entirely contaminated by
the poetry of authorship. The focus on authorship by modern French crit-
ics in their analyses of early European and classical Hollywood film has led
to a scramble to retroactively search for the artist lost in the anonymity of
early film.
Up to this point I have simply posed questions, and, although I cannot
be sure that I will be able to fully answer my own questions beyond the
answers implied in the questions themselves, I will certainly try. Having
touched on these leading questions, I would like to focus on certain
received ideas and study frames that have been applied to Chomón,
whether totally incorrectly or at least misleadingly. I am well aware that I
myself have been guilty of applying this approach in my studies of Chomón:
committing errors either similar to those described above or similar to
those to which I will refer below. My analysis of Chomón will be con-
ducted from two perspectives: firstly, in general terms; and secondly,
against the perspective of a number of films in which he participated and
which I was unable to include in my earlier book on Chomón (Minguet
Batllori 1999).
The doubtful pioneerism of Chomón

I first question the notion that Chomón was a pioneer, and, if he was a
pioneer, of what? Not of Spanish cinema, certainly. Pioneers are people
who explore virgin territory that is then colonised in their wake. As far
as Chomón is concerned, the feeling is that he acted very much on the
sidelines of Spanish cinema, which had its origins in Barcelona (where
Chomón lived between 1901 and 1905, and then again from 1910 to
1912). Prior to coming to Barcelona, and after having fought in the
Spanish-American War –presumably to earn some money – Chomón
had lived in Paris, where, along with his wife Julienne Mathieu, he
gained experience in subsidiary activities in the cinematographic indus-
try and specifically in the colouring of films. By the time he came to
Segundo de Chomón and the early years of cinema 121

2. Research into Barcelona (a city he was already familiar with) in 1901,2 he was an
Chomón has tradi-
tionally indicated his
expert in cinematographic techniques. This is the only way to explain
arrival in Barcelona the confidence placed in him by the Pathé brothers and the incipient
to have occurred in French film industry of the time. Until 1905 – when he returned to Paris –
1902. However, the
Pathé catalogue for
Chomón was very active in the world of film in Barcelona. He set up a
1901 includes some workshop for adding colour to Méliès and Pathé films – a specialism in
documentaries by which he became particularly adept – and he did translations to Spanish
Chomón (Ascension du
Mont Serrat, Descense
of the titles and occasional inter-titles of French films to be distributed in
du Mont Serrat, Spain and in South America. He also became a distributor for French
Panorama du Tibidabo), and other films for the Spanish-speaking market, but certainly those pro-
so Chomón either
travelled to Paris to
duced by Pathé. Finally, Chomón became a full-blown film-maker in his
film or, more likely, own right when he began shooting his own films. In this first period in
was already living Barcelona – taking advantage of the fact that, as the licensee for impor-
there.
tant foreign producers in Spain, he had film cameras and empty reels – he
3. Film title translations made both documentaries and fiction films.
are literal except
where an official
It also seems that it was in this first Barcelona period that Chomón
translation exists. started to develop his expertise in filming special effects, or ‘tricks’.
Colouring some of the Méliès films in Barcelona gave Chomón the
opportunity to view and analyse, at his ease, the works of the French
‘magician of film’, and so he could study what were effective but simple
cinematographic tricks. Of these films in which Chomón participated, little
is known, as the truth of some timeworn conjectures about them has not
been confirmed. To begin with, Encarnació Soler (2004) recently demon-
strated how it was extremely improbable that Chomón was involved in
Eclipse de sol/Eclipse of the sun3 (1905), a film in which he had been attrib-
uted with introducing the stop-motion (frame-by-frame) technique. Nor
can we consider as entirely reliable the information that Chomón might
have been involved in Choque de trenes/Train collision (1902), in which real
images of trains were combined with models so as to simulate a train crash –
which undoubtedly had a stupefying effect on the audience. Nonetheless,
despite all these misgivings, it is quite plausible that Chomón made some
initial experiments in trick filming while in Barcelona, perhaps in Pulgarcito,
o Gulliver en el país de los gigantes/Tom Thumb, or Gulliver in the land of the
giants (1903) – how else can we explain the invitation by Pathé, in 1905,
to return to Paris and take charge of precisely this kind of filming?
Was it all these activities – whether documented or purported – that
led to the conclusion that Chomón was a pioneer? That Chomón opened
up a trail that was followed by other Spanish film-makers? It seems likely
that the answer is no – even bearing in mind the documented fact that,
between 1903 and 1905, Chomón worked in Barcelona for a production
company founded by Lluís Macaya and Albert Marro, filming sainetes
(short humorous plays), such as L’hereu de Ca’n Pruna/ The heir of the House
of Pruna (1904) and Se da de comer/We serve dinners (1905). In his own
name he also directed his first historical film, Los héroes del sitio de Zaragoza/
The heroes of the Siege of Zaragoza (1905), about the siege of Zaragoza. It is
also very likely that Chomón participated in the projection in the Sala
Mercè in Barcelona – a hall designed by Antoni Gaudí and managed by
the artist Lluís Graner – of what were called pel·lícules íntimes, described as
portraits on film of artists, writers and other Catalans as they created
works of art or otherwise worked (Minguet Batllori 1988; 1995).

Figure 1: Segundo de Chomón.
The author of the article confirms that there is not knowledge of copyright
holders of this image.
Nonetheless, did all this intense activity leave any mark on the Barcelona
cinematographic industry? One pertinent aspect is to determine – something
that may not be possible – the nature of the relationship established between
Chomón and Albert Marro, the driving force behind the future Hispano
Films (founded in 1907). Although only a hypothesis, it seems plausible
that Chomón, seven years older, transmitted to Marro some of the knowl-
edge he had gained in France. It cannot be known for certain to what extent
Chomón’s techniques had been absorbed by the already precarious Spanish
cinematographic industry by the time he left for the Pathé studios in Paris
in 1905. Recalling this period many years later, the playwright Adrià Gual,
who was an assiduous collaborator in the spectacles offered in the Sala
Mercè, referred to Chomón as ‘a French operator by the name of Chaumont’
based in Barcelona (Gual 1960: 192). Bearing in mind that Gual eventually
became director of the prestigious Barcinógrafo production house, the error
as to nationality and the misspelling of his name would seem to indicate
that Chomón barely left his mark – in either his first stay in Barcelona or in
his second stay when he founded Chomón y Fuster and then Ibérico Films.
The ‘Spanish Méliès’– or analytical reductionism

Another platitude that has been repeated ad nauseam and, it has to be
said, with a certain air of provincialism in Spanish historiography, is that
Chomón was the ‘Spanish Méliès’. This definition of Chomón links him
CJCS_1.1_11_Gat_Minguest_119-133.indd 123 7/22/09 11:51:49 AM

4. See the preamble solely and exclusively to trick films (scènes à trucs) and fantasy films based
to Minguet Batllori,
Joan M. (2008),
on fairy tales (féeries), negating him as a film-maker in his own right and
Paisaje(s) del cine mudo with numerous achievements to his name. It placed him in the backseat:
en España, Valencia: first there was the cinema of the groundbreaking Frenchman and then
IVAC, Filmoteca
de la Generalitat
there were the film-makers who copied him, among them, Chomón.
Valenciana. Rather than directly argue my case, I would simply like to point to two
5. Personal communica-
facts. Firstly, Méliès was undoubtedly a pioneer and the supreme repre-
tion with the author. sentative of a film based on fantasy and fascination that contrasted with
the Lumière visual style and with embryonic native cinema. Had he not
6. See Crafton, Donald
(1990), Emile Cohl, existed, however, or had he not developed an interest in this new medium,
caricature and film, it is not beyond our wildest imaginings to think that cinematography
Princeton: Princeton would not eventually have developed this way of understanding cinema.
University Press. Also
Malthête, Jacques and It seems to me that the cinema of attractions should not be considered
Laurent Mannoni solely from the point of view of the producers, but also from the perspec-
(eds.) (2002), Méliès, tive of the affinity of this type of cinema with other spectacles as perceived
magie et cinéma, París:
Paris-Musées. by the public.4
Secondly, as pointed out by Eileen Bowser in regard to my book on
Chomón,5 there is a feeling that the film of Chomón is more specifically
filmic than that of Méliès. Whereas Méliès entered film from the Paris
music-hall tradition, Chomón emerged from the very bowels of the early
cinematographic industry. Whereas Méliès combined cinema with magic
and variety shows, Chomón focused almost exclusively on strictly filmic
devices, which enabled him to attract and win the attention of spectators
seeking the specific fascination of primitive cinema. On the occasion of
each stay in Barcelona, Chomón tried to pursue his own goals, but the
Spanish film industry was lacking in the technical capacity for effective
trick filming; remember that during his second stay in Barcelona, Chomón
filmed material that he sent back to Paris accompanied with written
instructions about laboratory and editing work.
I have always maintained that the interest in Chomón lies in the fact
that his participation in the cinematographic industry was broad rang-
ing. Or, put another way, he had a broader vision of cinema that con-
trasted with the lack of perspective that can be attributed, for example,
to Émile Cohl and Georges Méliès.6 Despite the above comments, how-
ever, Chomón’s known filmography cannot be analysed in terms of
parameters referring to the development and coherence of his work, as
these parameters derive from positivist art historiography (which film
historiography has made its own) and especially from the development
of the concept of film authorship, indiscriminately applied back and forth
in time. Was Chomón an author, however, in the sense understood by
contemporary French film critics? Absolutely not: he was simply a man
with attentive antennae, if you’ll forgive the alliteration. His work, like
that of many of the earliest film technicians, was performed on the basis
of criteria that had little to do with authorship, involving as it did, ano-
nymity, plagiarism, diversity (understood as incoherence, not as eclecti-
cism), etc.
Some of these issues can be illustrated in specific examples. The back-
ground described above should be taken into account when interpreting
the fact that, in a single year, 1904, Chomón could make films as radically
different as Los héroes del sitio de Zaragoza and L’hereu de Ca’n Pruna. And, if

we adopt a retroactive perspective on film authorship, they are more even 7 On films with
chase scenes, see
antithetical. They also represented an interpretative challenge in terms of Auerbach, Jonathan
the filming practices of the time. Los héroes del sitio de Zaragoza, filmed by (2000) ‘Chasing Film
Chomón during his first stay in Barcelona, was an enormously simple film, Narrative: Repetition,
Recursion and the
both in terms of structure – three frames of epic material – and subject Body in Early Film’,
matter – a patriotic vision of the Aragonese people defending Zaragoza Critical Inquiry, 26:4,
from invasion by Napoleon’s soldiers. The last frame, representing a heav- pp. 798–820. In
regard to Chomón’s
ily nationalistic re-enactment aimed at highlighting the heroism of the film, see Cardona,
Spanish, shows Agustina de Aragón (the heroine) and other figures wav- Rosa (2004) ‘L’Hereu
ing flags against a backdrop of fireworks (Minguet Batllori 1999). L’hereu de Ca’n Pruna’, pp.
215–219 in Museu
de Ca’n Pruna, on the other hand, was a comedy directly inspired by a situ- del Cinema, Imatge
ation depicted in another film that had been shown in Barcelona (González i viatge. De les vistes
2001), How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald òptiques al cinema:
la configuració de
Personal Columns (1904), by Edwin S. Porter. In terms of splendidly munif- l’imaginari turístic,
icent intertextuality, if not intratextuality, Chomón’s film was also in tune Girona: Museu del
with other films with chase scenes, such as Personal (1904) by Wallace Cinema.
McCutcheon and Meet Me at the Fountain (1904) by the Lubin Manufacturing
Company. Chomón’s film is particularly innovative, however. Whereas
the other films limited themselves to setting the scene and depicting a man
being chased by numerous would-be brides in general shots, Chomón
introduced variables such as an insert of the actual text that the charac-
ters read on the noticeboard and a close-up shot of the main character
looking directly at the camera.7 Chomón indeed plagiarised, but plagia-
rism was a common commercial practice of the time, so this is hardly rel-
evant, particularly as the plagiarism represented an improvement on the
original.
Chomón was undoubtedly capable of rapidly adapting to new demands
as they arose and fitting his work to new conditions as they developed in
the cinema industry, both as market and as mode of representation. He
never left off specialising in tricks and special effects (he never stopped
being the Spanish Méliès, if you prefer to refer to him that way) or colour-
ing films, and he had no difficulty in taking on board changes in the indus-
try, even when these changes led him to take a backseat after having
become an outstanding technician in the no less outstanding Pathé pro-
duction company – and note that I refer to him as a technician not as an
artist. Thus, a main feature of Chomón undoubtedly was his chameleonic
nature. Between 1905 and 1909, for example, he was able to develop –
directly or with other Pathé technicians – a broad range of genres or scènes,
as described in the Pathé catalogue: comedy (Le courant électrique/The elec-
tric current and L’insaisissable pickpocket/The elusive pickpocket), féeries and
phantasmagorias (Le fils du diable/The son of the devil), animation (Les ombres
chinoises/ The Chinese shadows and Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves/
Slippery Jim), trick films in the purest sense (L’araignée d’or/The gold spider)
and even passion films. This particular manifestation of early cinema I will
discuss further below, when I analyse some of Chomón’s films in an
endeavour to sketch the landscape of certainty and doubt that depicts any
study of the early years of cinema and Chomón’s filmography in particu-
lar. With the expectation of conducting further in-depth study of Chomón
in the future, I analyse below a number of films on which he worked
(whether purportedly or genuinely, and whether in a main or secondary

role). The analysis of these films represents a weaving of the initial threads
of a fabric that will provide an interpretation of Chomón and the early
years of cinema.
La Vie et passion de N. S. Jésus Christ (1906–1907)

La Vie et passion de N. S. Jésus Christ/The life and passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
produced by Pathé between 1906 and 1907, consisted of 37 frames that
showed the most emblematic and popular episodes of the New Testament.
All the important producers filmed passion plays or religious or biblical
scènes, and Pathé had already done so in 1897, 1899 and 1902. In this
case, the series of frames is very well elaborated, both in terms of frame dis-
tribution and the internal organisation of each frame. This production,
which is outstanding among early films, links in with an iconic tradition
that was very popular in the nineteenth century: religion experienced
through non-selective history of art, dioramas, engravings, postcards, pho-
tographs, etc.
I should mention in passing that although passion plays are considered
to be the prelude to narrative cinema – given that the frames together
recounted a coherent narrative, with even sub-plots of a certain complexity – I
am of the opinion that they are merely a further variation on what theo-
rists, including Tom Gunning, call the cinema of attractions. If it is indeed
true that they recount a story, earlier versions – including La Passion (1906)
by Gaumont and, even more so, La Vie et passion de N. S. Jésus Christ by
Pathé – all shape this story in a way that was typical of many of the films
of that era; each frame was a final apotheosis, deliberately incorporating
iconic opulence and filled with gesticulating actors – and often depicted in
colour. I should say – again in passing and in relation to my earlier aside –
that these stories from the New Testament relied on an aspect that was
very typical of the cinema of attractions when tackling something more
complex than scènes à trucs: the complicity or prior knowledge of the public
(also the case with adaptations of children’s stories by Perrault, Grimm and
others). Note that the proto-narrative or demonstrative aspect of this kind
of film is corroborated by the fact that it declined in popularity towards the
end of the first decade of the twentieth century, when the cinema of attrac-
tions gave way to the first institutionalised filmed stories.
Returning to the Pathé passion film, some authors have wanted to credit
Chomón for its successful aspects, pointing in particular to camera move-
ments in some of the frames of the film. Nonetheless, it seems wise to be
cautious, first of all because this formalist or calligraphic historiography that
is a feature of studies of early cinema and that pays close attention to formal
and morphological innovation (the first travelling shot, the first close-up,
etc.) leads only to stories lacking in ideas. Secondly, the acknowledged direc-
tor of the film was Ferdinand Zecca: though the idea of camera movement
and of what it implied in terms of narrative progression (most particularly,
the premature travelling of the frame referring to the resurrection of Jairus’
daughter) may have been Zecca’s, the practical performance was by
Chomón. What we do know for sure is that the tricks and the photography
were the work of Chomón. The fact that the actress who played Mary was
Chomón’s wife, Julienne Mathieu, has led this, and perhaps other, Pathé
films to be attributed to Chomón, according to Tharrats (1988).

Figure 2: La Vie et passion de N. S. Jésus Christ.
Permission from the Filmoteca de Catalunya.
Note that not all the frames of the film needed tricks, only frames in
which a special effect could underline the story (annunciation, resurrec-
tion, etc.) and frames in which a surprise element – considering that the
spectator was already likely to know what would happen next – could be
emphasised. Most of the tricks were very simple ones, especially if we
compare them to some of the tricks implemented by Pathé – or even
Chomón – in previous films. Mostly they were dissolves, featuring the
apparition of angels or archangels to emphasise the sacredness of a
scene, or were superimpositions of celestial beings on existing frames. Of
the tricks used, three are worthy of particular comment. The most inter-
esting one of all is undoubtedly the scene in which Jesus can be seen
walking on water in a meticulously created superimposition. In an ear-
lier scene the spectator would have seen another interesting frame show-
ing the shepherds gazing at the mysterious star. This trick, although
simple, was conceptually very meaningful: Chomón, using the cache
technique, divided the screen into two – like an El Greco canvas – with
the earth in the bottom half and with the heavens in the top half, popu-
lated by angels carrying a banner with the words Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
Finally, the third trick reinforced the dramatic tension of the agony and
death of Jesus Christ on the cross by means of three short shots of flashes
of lightning in the sky that intercalated with the main shot. Although
Agustín Sánchez Vidal lamented that the tricks weren’t really elabo-
rated, the effect of the flashes of lightning, despite the very brief time the
shot is shown, and bearing in mind the few frames it was composed of, is
undeniably disturbing.

Le fils du diable (1906)
This phantasmagoria, directed by Charles L. Lépine, included many
tricks by Chomón. The film had an amusing plot. The son of the devil is
bored and Satan calls a doctor from the underworld (Snagarelle, in clear
homage to Molière) to accompany his son to earth. After many vicissi-
tudes, the devil’s son falls in love with a girl and they plan to get married
in a church; however, on seeing a cross, the devil’s son flees straight
back to hell. The girl, desolate, commits suicide and shortly after arrives
in the kingdom of Satan, where Satan’s son receives her joyously. As
was typical in the Pathé productions of the time, the film reached a cre-
scendo in a final scene replete with fireworks and crowded with dancers.
The choreography was makeshift, consisting of a group of girls moving
with little harmony. This made sense, however, as the public of the cin-
ema of attractions did not expect skilled dancers; they simply saw a
screen with elaborate decorations packed with people making repeated
movements – three aspects that defined the typical apogee of these films.
Bearing in mind the year, Le fils du diable fait la noce à Paris has a complex
narrative structure based on more than twenty shots. Chomón’s tricks
were used to support this proto-narrative, in particular, the transforma-
tions that took place throughout the film. This work clearly demonstrates
that, at this time, and despite the fact that film company catalogues
divided up production in terms of scènes, points of encounter and less
rigid boundaries were also evident; in this film, the féerie links up with
comedy scenes and elements of farce, and also with gags, such as the
one in which Snagarelle calls down to hell on a telephone that is attached
to the earth.
Figure 3: Le fils du diable.


Figure 4: Le courant électrique.
Le courant électrique (1906)

Following the comedy line, although without tricks and without any illu-
sion to fantasy worlds (or perhaps for this very reason), Le courant élec-
trique (1906) is a film that confirms that Chomón did not wish to be
circumscribed by a particular type of film. Or – so as not to abandon my
revisionist stance – perhaps Pathé did not wish to train rigid specialists but
needed all-weather technical experts who were capable of taking charge of
products formulated in a range of ways. So, unlike with Le fils du diable fait
la noce à Paris, here we had a specific Pathé product catalogued as a scène
comique, with a very simple but manifestly effective set-up, resolved in just
three shots. The first shot shows a shop, with its door right in the centre of
the viewing field and with wares on display on either side. The shopkeeper
comes out, leaves a milk-can and returns indoors. Next a man and a
woman appear and steal bread and some sausages. In the next shot, they
are eating their plunder in the countryside, but when they realise that
they have nothing to drink, they decide to return to the shop. The scene in
the third shot is the same as in the first shot, but we see the shopkeeper
attaching electric wire to the items on display before returning inside. The
man and the woman reappear on the scene, but when they start picking
up bottles they receive an electric shock; some police arrive and then some
women and they too get electric shocks. Finally the shopkeeper’s son dis-
connects the electricity and the police arrest – not the thieves – but the
shopkeeper. In this very simple set-up, which unfolds with a parallel for-
mal and morphological simplicity, Chomón exploits the humour implied
by increasing numbers of people drawn into a situation – similar to L’hereu

de Ca’n Pruna, where the comedy lies in the growing numbers of women
chasing the main character. These were not his only incursions into com-
edy film, but they marked a watershed in terms of his art in making people
laugh.
Les ombres chinoises (1908), L’insaisissable pickpocket

(1908), Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves (1909) and
Symphonie bizarre (1909)
In 1908 and 1909, Chomón directed a number of animated films or films
in which animation played an important role – Electric hotel (1908), Le
voleur invisible/Invisible thief (1909), La maison ensorcelée/Curse of the crim-
son altar (1908) and Le rêve des marmitons/Scullion’s dream (1908).
Particularly noteworthy, however, were Les ombres chinoises (1908),
L’insaisissable pickpocket (1908), Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves (1909)
and Symphonie bizarre (1909).
In Les ombres chinoises (1908) the unmistakable Julienne Mathieu
wears oriental dress. She and her co-star offer the spectator the opportu-
nity to attend a Chinese shadow show, in this case, the cinematographic
manipulation of cardboard cut-outs of an elephant, a clown, etc. The film
had a second part – which was not preserved in the Filmoteca de Catalunya
copy I was able to view – in which the two presenters install a second
screen and offer another shadow (or animated silhouette) show consisting
of acrobatic exercises performed by athletes.
In this same period, Chomón filmed the subject of the police pursuit of
a thief on two occasions, although with a significant gap of eighteen
months. L’insaisissable pickpocket was shown for the first time in April 1908
Figure 5: Les ombres chinoises.


Figure 6: Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves.
at Le Cirque d’Hiver in Paris and was featured in the Pathé catalogue from
May of that year. Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves appeared in the Pathé
catalogue in November 1909. The time lag between the two films is
reflected in very different approaches. In the earlier film, Chomón shows
the chase by repeating the same frame, with the characters exiting and
entering the field of vision. The thief leaves or disappears by getting into a
bag or hiding under a hat, the police come on the scene looking for the
thief whom they cannot find, then the thief re-enters the scene or magi-
cally appears from one of the objects strewn about. Note that, in all the
comings and goings and appearances and disappearances, orientation in
regard to what would later be called the 180-degree rule was respected.
In Pickpocket ne craint pas les entraves, Chomón’s approach (quite com-
mon in films of the day) was largely similar, except that he included a
number of tricks that fitted perfectly within the narrative chain. Some
were simple but devastatingly effective – such as when the thief manages
to get through the bars of a jail. Others were brief but marvellous exam-
ples of animation – when the thief’s feet come free of the chains placed
there by the police or when the thief is transformed into a hose. The hose
effect (already used in L’insaisissable pickpocket) demonstrated the absolute
mastery that Chomón had developed in terms of animating objects.
This mastery was also evident in Symphonie bizarre, an elaborate and
highly interesting scène à trucs in which a band of eccentric circus musi-
cians parade around the streets of the city, playing their instruments nois-
ily, causing chaos at a fruit stall, etc. One trick is when the band is
repeatedly transformed into umbrellas of all shapes and colours that move
in harmony with each other. But this is not the only animation; the film

commences, in fact, with a fantastic image of silhouettes painted on the
screen out of which each of the band members emerges. This ingenious
trick reveals the point to which Segundo de Chomón not only mastered
cinematographic techniques, but also had a marvellous sense of how to
apply them in highly imaginative ways.
Concluding note
My main conclusion is my original argument: the early years of cinema
are still open to interpretation and the parameters with which they are
viewed need to be constantly revised. The greatest problem is not that a
large quantity of early material has been lost or that much material that is
preserved is physically and syntactically in disarray. Deploring an appar-
ent lack of data and information is, in my opinion, pointless. Cinema and
film historians, accustomed as they are to having mountains of data, doc-
umentation and opinions, seem unable to exercise the freedom conferred
by being able to study a period about which little is known with certainty.
When we exercise this freedom, what we do come to learn of the period on
many occasions shatters the preconceptions of established filmologists and
historiographers. Rather than seek data – which may not even exist – we
can take full advantage of its absence to pose hypotheses and to speculate
about this period and its films. In the light of this argument, Chomón’s
trajectory can only be analysed and interpreted in the light of what his
films tell us. Such analyses might contribute to creating paradoxes rather
than certainties – but paradoxes also form part of, and are a consequence
of, the freedom that this kind of study permits or requires.
References
Company, Juan Miguel (2003), ‘Interpretar la mirada. Mostración visual y saber
narrativo en el cine de los primeros tiempos’, in Museu del Cinema, La construc-
ció del públic dels primers espectacles cinematogràfics,Girona: Museu del Cinema,
pp. 59–63.
Gaudreault, André (1988), Du littéraire au filmique. Système du récit, Paris: Méridiens
Klincksieck.
González, Palmira (2001), ‘Los primeros años del cine en Cataluña (1896–1909)’,
Artigrama, 16, pp. 39–74.
Gual, Adrià (1960), Mitja vida de teatre, Barcelona: Aedos.
Minguet Batllori, Joan M. (1988), ‘La Sala Mercè de Lluís Graner (1904–1908):
un epígono del Modernisme?’, D’Art, 14, pp. 99–117.
Minguet Batllori, Joan M. (1995), ‘La Sala Mercè, el primer cinematógrafo de la
burguesía barcelonesa (con unas precisiones sobre la primera etapa de Segundo
de Chomón en Barcelona)’, Actas del V Congreso de la Asociación Española de
Historiadores del Cine, La Coruña: Asociación Española de Historiadores del
Cine, pp. 63–71.
Minguet Batllori, Joan M. (1999), Segundo de Chomón, beyond the cinema of attrac-
tions (1904–1912), Barcelona: Filmoteca de la Generalitat de Catalunya.
Sánchez Vidal, Agustín (1992), El cine de Segundo de Chomón, Zaragoza: Caja de
Ahorros de la Inmaculada de Aragón.
Soler, Encarnació (2004), ‘Va filmar Chomón l’eclipsi?’, Cinema Rescat, 15.
Tharrats, Juan Gabriel (1988), Los 500 films de Segundo de Chomón, Zaragoza:
Universidad de Zaragoza.

Suggested citation
Minguet Batllori, J. M. (2009), ‘Segundo de Chomón and the early years of cinema:
a revisionist perspective’, Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies
1: 1, pp. 119–133, doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.119/7
Contributor details
Joan M. Minguet Batllori is Professor in the Department of History of Art at the
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). His most recent book include: Buster
Keaton (2008); Paisaje(s) del cine mudo en España (2008); Salvador Dalí, cine y
surrealismo(s) (2003); Segundo de Chomón, beyond the cinema of attractions (1999).
He collaborated with the Encyclopedia of Early Cinema (2005) and is presently work-
ing on an exhaustive analysis of Segundo de Chomón’s cinema for the Catalonia
Film Archive.
Contact: Departament d’Art, Facultat de Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Spain),
E-mail: Joan.Minguet@uab.cat
Website: http://www.joanminguet.net

Studies in Eastern
European Cinema
ISSN 2040-350X (2 issues | Volume 1, 2010)
Editors Aims and Scope

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Reviews
Reviews. English language. doi: 10.1386/cjcs.1.1.135/4
Catalonia: a cultural history, Michael Eaude (2007)

Oxford: Signal Books, 281pp., ISBN 978-1-904955-32-0,
Paperback, £12.00
The Basque Country: a cultural history,
Paddy Woodworth (2007)
Oxford: Signal Books, 290 pp., ISBN 978-1-904955-31-3,
Paperback, £12.00
Reviewed by John Payne, author of Catalonia: History and Culture (Five Leaves,
2004, second revised edition 2009).
Nation states like to be taken for granted. A state that remains unques-
tioned will be much safer from internal and external threats. For much of
my own (English) lifetime, Britain was in this desirable position. We didn’t
speak much about England, but with Britain we knew where we were.
The British Empire might slip away quietly into the sunset, but Britain
itself would stay. Writers like Tom Nairn, movements such as the Welsh
Language Society, even Plaid Cymru, were regarded as fringe and irrele-
vant to mainstream debate. Now all that has changed. Scotland and
Ireland have substantial measures of devolution. Welsh poetry or rock
music, the Scottish novel or Scottish art, are unexceptional descriptions of
felt national and cultural identities. Gordon Brown may speak a lot about
Britain, but it only serves to emphasise the anomaly of a Scottish politician
running (at least for the moment) the Westminster government. In his
heart he must know that Scotland and Wales may one day slip beneath
the horizon as easily as the dissolving Empire of the 1960s.
If we grew up thinking of Britain as a stable, timeless entity, we certainly
thought the same of Spain. The Civil War was generally understood as a
political conflict between Left and Right, part of a wider European conflict of
the 1930s, rather than a conflict between centralising and centrifugal forces
within Spain itself. Hapsburg Spain had been an international project,
driven as much by the wealth of the Low Countries and America, and the
huge, ethnically diverse empire in Central Europe, as by the private squab-
bles within the Iberian Peninsula. Both Catalonia and the Basque Country
had fought long and hard to defend ancient rights – the Basques more suc-
cessfully indeed than the Catalans, as Woodworth points out. The Catalans,
with their large and wealthy medieval empire (in the name of Aragon) and
their uncanny knack of always backing the wrong horse in European dynas-
tic wars, had put their heads far too high above the parapet. The Basques,
discrete and secretive, had survived by minding their own business.
In both cases, the issue of identity was complicated by large-scale industri-
alisation and urbanisation in the nineteenth century, centred round Barcelona
CJCS_1.1_12_Rev_Payne_135-144.indd 135 7/1/09 6:00:29 PM

and Bilbao. Basques – certainly Basque speakers – became a minority in their
own country. The Catalans were joined in north-east Spain by successive
waves of migrants, mainly from backward, rural southern provinces, both
before and after the Spanish War. By the 1950s, under the Franco dictator-
ship, Catalan had become a private, family language, officially discouraged if
not actively repressed in the streets, in shops, and in public life.
These two books, by Paddy Woodworth, an Irish journalist, and
Michael Eaude, an English writer and long-term Barcelona resident, have
a common format. Both carry the ambitious sub-title ‘A Cultural History’,
and both lie within Signal Books’ ‘Landscapes of the Imagination’ series,
which is intended to complement their well established ‘Cities of the
Imagination’ series. Both carry useful photographs, maps, indices, glossa-
ries and reading lists. The emphasis on place is important, indeed central
to the way the books are constructed, but these are rather more than
upmarket travel books. Both men write from long years of experience and
considerable expert knowledge of their subjects. Whether it is Woodworth’s
critical but thorough knowledge of ETA (the Basque terrorist organisa-
tion) or Eaude’s intimate knowledge of Catalan cuisine, these have the feel
of insider accounts of subjects close to the heart, rather than under-em-
ployed writers in search of the exotic!
The centrality of place, as a hook on which to hang cultural commen-
tary, is used effectively by both authors; for example, in his opening chap-
ter (‘Sea and Mountain’) Eaude links Port Bou, the first village inside
‘Spanish’ Catalonia coming south from France, and Montserrat, the
unmistakable mountains lurking inland from Barcelona, with the monas-
tery which many Catalans regard as their spiritual home. This allows him
reference to Stephen Spender (who passed through Port Bou during the
Spanish War and wrote a poem there), Walter Benjamin (who died there
under controversial circumstances), as well as to the role of Montserrat in
supporting Catalan identity and resistance during the Franco years. These
varied subjects allow him to make some powerful opening statements
about the nature of Catalan politics.
Woodworth is occasionally less secure in this method. For a start he uses
less chapters than Eaude in a book of similar length. In chapter five he moves
around the Cinco Villas, the five hamlets in the Bidasoa valley, south-west of
San Sebastián (Donostia). In Vera he begins an interesting discussion on the
work of the nineteenth century Spanish novelist Pío Baroja, who just hap-
pened to be Basque as well. In Etxalar he finds a history of witchcraft, linked
to Baroja, who uses it in his fictions, but also to the unlikely eponymous hero-
ine of ‘Carmen’ who gives (or is given) Etxalar as her birthplace. In Lesaka he
finds folk dancers, and, incongruously a laminated steel factory employing
1,400 people. Of Igantzi he has little to say, and goes on to Arantza (which is
also a duck pâté factory). All a little breathless for a stranger to the country; I
groped repeatedly for a map.
This is perhaps unfair to Woodworth, because it is precisely at Arantza
that he has one of the funniest of his many purple patches in what is an
enormously entertaining book. It is worth quoting at some length:
On a night after just such a sodden day, in 1989, I went out alone in search
of a drink and some company. A huge toad flopped out of the inky blackness,
136 Reviews

and planted itself in front of me, baleful eyes immobile, fixed on mine. ‘Zu
sorgiña zara … sorgiña ona, oso ona…’ I found myself muttering in my very
rudimentary Euskera [Basque], quite concerned to communicate appropri-
ately with this night creature. ‘You are a witch, a good witch, a very good
witch.’ There was no obvious response. ‘Ni irlandan bizi naiz,’ I added incon-
sequentially, simply because I knew the phrase well, and my limited Basque
vocabulary was running out, ‘I am from Ireland’. The little beast held my
gaze contemptuously for a short eternity, and then it was gone.
So good to see this strange language presented as if it’s quite easy, really.
‘Ni irlandan bizi naiz’ – I look forward to saying that one day, even if it is
not true. Needless to say, Eaude does not meet with toads in the Catalan
Pyrenees or even in the delta of the Ebro.
Despite the superficial conformity of the books, Eaude and Woodworth
are very different writers. They look in different directions, meet different
people, think their own thoughts as they travel round their chosen places.
Woodworth devotes a whole and very satisfying chapter to ‘Iparralde’, the
French Basque Country, which includes holiday resorts such as St-Jean-
de-Luz and Biarritz, the legendary pass of Roncesvalles, the little town of
St Jean Pied-de-Port on the Pilgrims’ Way to Santiago. Eaude, by contrast,
scarcely mentions the fate of the Catalans north of the border who, from
other reports, seem to have their culture reduced to folklore for the tour-
ists and their nationalist fervour transmuted into noisy, flag-waving sup-
port for the ‘Catalan Dragons’ rugby team.
Eaude’s own selection of material has also been influenced by his desire
not to overlap with his recent Barcelona (Five Leaves Press, 2006). Whereas
in the earlier book, a particular strength was his detailed and sympathetic
understanding of recent Catalan literature (much of which is now available
in English translation), he deals at greater length here with the visual arts,
which necessarily take the reader beyond the confines of Barcelona. Gaudí
was from provincial Reus, and Eaude does a fine job in re-evaluating the
architectural traditions of this little town. Also in the south of Catalonia,
we find Miró at Montroig, Picasso at Horta de Sant Joan, while up to the
north there is Dalí at his beach house at Cadaqués. Woodworth spends a
whole chapter on Bernardo Atxaga, the Basque novelist. Atxaga writes in
Basque, translates his own books into Spanish with his wife, and is also
available in English. For Obabakoak (The People of Obaba) he wrote a spe-
cial poem for the English edition. It is a poem about the Basque language:
Born, they say, in the megalithic age,

it survived, this stubborn language, by withdrawing,
by hiding away like a hedgehog in a place,
which, thanks to the traces it left behind there,
the world named the Basque Country, or Euskal Herria.
(Woodworth, p. 158)
There is much more in these two lively books that we have not touched on.
We might have stressed Woodworth’s bemused interest in Basque popular
culture (the game of pelota, rock-lifting, duck-decapitating), or Eaude’s elegy
to the Jews of Besalú. We might have wondered how the rise and rise of
Reviews 137

Barcelona and Bilbao as globalised cities and destinations for a certain kind
of cultural tourism has affected their status as ‘Basque’ or ‘Catalan’ cities.
We might have reflected on how a weak national identity in the Basque
country results in political violence, while a strong identity in Catalonia
results in democratic (if irritable) politics. We might have begun from a dif-
ferent starting-point altogether and wondered why people need the props of
national or religious or ethnic identity to support their fragile egos. We all
live in a certain place and in a particular time, but how to best negotiate the
terms of our own lives is still, for this author at least, an open question.
Analysing Identities in Discourse, Rosana Dolón and

Júlia Todolí (eds) (2008)
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 204 pp.,
ISBN 978 90 272 2719 5N, Hardback, € 105,00
Reviewed by Fernando León Solís, Lecturer in Spanish,
University of the West of Scotland.
This volume includes seven articles selected from the ‘First International
Conference on CDA’ (Critical Discourse Analysis), held in Valencia in
2004. This compendium of analyses focuses on contexts where construc-
tion of personal and collective identity ‘is circumscribed to various forms
of power abuse and domination’ (vii). Those contexts are named as: edu-
cation; cultural and national identity construction; and human suffering.
The common denominator of all these studies is the application of the the-
oretical framework and tools offered by Critical Discourse Analysis.
The introduction offers an overview of the concept of identity as
adopted by different theoretical approaches, from symbolic interactionism
to Social Identity theory, through to social constructionism and post-
modern critique. Concepts such as hybridity, multiplicity, change, fluidity
and agency (amongst others) are discussed. But the main focus of this
introduction is on CDA’s contribution, which establishes that the process
of identity domination is carried out by two main procedures: external
imposition, and internalisation. Emphasis is also placed on the possibility
of problematizing and resisting hegemonic discourses.
The first section is devoted to identity construction (and resistance) in
education. Through the analysis of a series of interviews, Martín Rojo’s
offers a discussion of the stereotyping, ethnocentric and assimilatory
mechanisms whereby identities of local and immigrant pupils are con-
structed and resisted in Spanish multicultural classrooms. Liu’s article
studies the grammatical and lexical choices employed in narrative, poetic,
descriptive and expository texts appearing in Chinese textbooks, which
promote an idealistic vision of China: its cultural grandeur, its natural
beauty, the happiness and sense of patriotic sacrifice of its people. This sec-
tion finishes with Peled-Elhanan’s analysis of the discursive mechanisms
of deletion, denial and distortion (in the words of the author) of Palestinian
identity in visual (maps and pictures) and verbal discourse in Israeli school
textbooks. Palestinian territories, the author shows, are depicted as part of
138 Reviews
CJCS_1.1_12_Rev_Payne_135-144.indd 138 8/6/09 8:34:37 AM

the state of Israel, but Palestinians are absent from their maps, graphs and
photos. It is also argued that textbooks perpetuate both the idea of
Palestinian ‘inferiority’ (presented as a natural condition), and the dis-
crimination against them (presented as their ‘lot’).
The second section, devoted to the construction of cultural and national
identities, opens with Hector Grad’s analysis of interviews with young
adults from Spain and the UK, in which the compatibility of identities
(regional, national, European) are discussed. Grad identifies an automatic
and a non-automatic identification with Europe and indicates that, in
most cases, national differences do not prevent the perception of pan-
European similarities. In his article, Lufti M. Hussein applies Systemic-
Functional Linguistics to discuss the discursive responses to the potential
suffering and threat posed to three Arab-American groups after the 9–11
attacks. Hussein concludes that the response was far from monolithic.
Whereas the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee focused on
managing the consequences of the attack for American-Arabs, the Gay
and Lesbian Arab-Society focused on protecting its readers as a minority,
and the Arab’s Women’s Solidarity Association provided a more universal
response, as it viewed the backlash in the context of a worldwide vilifica-
tion of the Other.
In the third section, devoted to identity and human suffering, Susan
Ehrlich studies the power of cultural discourses in sexual assault trials in
Canada. Ehrlich argues that rape victims (particularly those in which per-
petrators are acquaintances) suffer from dominant discourses on female
and male sexuality to the point that rape is presented as a consensual act.
She argues that these discourses are externally imposed (by judges, for
instance), but also accepted and reproduced by victims themselves. This
interesting article ends on a hopeful note with the analysis of emerging
counter-hegemonic discourses that might help change the (self-) percep-
tion of victims. The theme of discursive identity imposition is also dealt
with in the last article in which Lean, Mei Li & Li and Meng Hui study the
linguistic mechanisms whereby HIV/AIDS victims are presented as either
Innocent and Good, or Guilty and Bad (that is, as the sufferers of conse-
quences brought about by their evil acts).
All the articles included in this book deal with clearly interesting topics
and have academic value. However, it is rather difficult to provide a gen-
eral appraisal given that the quality of the analyses varies greatly. Of par-
ticular merit are Ehrlich’s and Peleh-Elhanan’s studies, which constitute
two engaging and vigorous pieces of research. The lack of depth in some of
the other articles might be put down to the fact that they are part of ongo-
ing, wider studies. At times one feels that the analyses and conclusions
offered could have been reached without turning to (at times) convoluted
CDA analyses. Also, a more robust editorial supervision would have pre-
vented repetitions, misspelling, poor referencing and deficient bibliograph-
ical listings, excessive use of paraphrases, poor English expression, poor
translations, lack of consistency in font and presentation – some articles
have abstracts and keywords, some do not, for example. Finally, the intro-
duction is devoted to a discussion of a series of theories on identity that are
hardly used in the case studies. Some of these are technical drawbacks
that a possible second edition of this book could put right.
Reviews 139

Contemporary Spanish Cinema and Genre, Jay Beck and
Vicente Rodríguez Ortega (eds) (2008)
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 310pp,
ISBN 978-0-7190-7775-3, Hardback, € 65.14
Reviewed by Jo Labanyi, Department of Spanish and Portuguese,
New York University
The editors deserve congratulation for producing this first book-length

discussion of genre in relation to Spanish cinema. The contributors are
young scholars, several trained in cinema studies departments and in a
broad range of US, European, Latin American or Asian film; this has
exposed them to debates not always taken on board by critics of Spanish
cinema trained in Spanish literature departments, or in media studies
departments in Spain (the majority, at least till recently).
The book is valuable overall but uneven, with some essays – especially
the later ones – not getting much beyond plot analysis. There is lack of
clarity in some instances about how genre is being defined. The least inter-
esting essays are those that suppose that genre comprises films that treat
the same topic (e.g. immigration, or tourism/transnational romance in a
Spanish-Cuban context). This approach to genre is almost bound to pro-
duce plot-centred analysis. The two above-mentioned examples are in the
final Part IV, ‘Multilingual Imaginaries, Borderless Spain’: the third essay
in this section does explore a genre defined by its stylistic features (the
musical), but is also disappointingly descriptive.
The essays in Part III, ‘Genre and Authorship’, while acute discussions of
the auteurist features of the directors concerned (Almodóvar, Ventura Pons,
Amenábar, Coixet), frequently wander off the topic of genre. It is, however,
excellent to have a series of essays that argue that genre (habitually associ-
ated with popular cinema) and auteur cinema (habitually associated with
art movies) are not incompatible, and that stress how these four directors
rely on generic mixtures. One is left wondering whether the unstated
premise is that auteurist traits are simply another way of defining genre.
Given that the term ‘genre’ is usually understood as a marketing category,
and given that auteur films are indeed marketed on the basis of the direc-
tor’s hallmark features, this would be a perfectly plausible definition.
What emerged most strongly for me in the book is the difference
between defining genre in terms of marketing practices, which has the
advantage of seeing films in relation to their audiences, and definitions of
genre devised by critics, which largely obey an academic desire to put
things in tidy boxes. The essays that take the latter approach inevitably
end up undoing critical conceptions of genre, which were arbitrary impo-
sitions in the first place. By far the best essays in the volume are those that
take the former approach. Part I, ‘Industry, Marketing, and Film Culture’,
is superb. Its essays eschew textual analysis for discussion of production
strategies, something rarely done in work on Spanish cinema. Andrew
Willis’s analysis of how the Barcelona-based Fantastic Factory pitches its
English-language horror films is introduced by an excellent discussion of
how genre plays out in both US and European cinema, referring usefully
to Bronston’s previous English-language production company based in
140 Reviews

Spain. Vicente Rodríguez Ortega’s comparative study of how Almodóvar,
Amenábar and de la Iglesia are branded and received in the US and Spain
is extremely revealing. Horror recurs in Antonio Lázaro-Reboll’s insightful
account of the marketing and reception in Spain and abroad of three
recent Spanish horror films (the second produced by Fantastic Factory),
including El laberinto del fauno. Part II, ‘Generic Hybridity: Negotiating the
Regional, the National and the Transnational’, opens with Josetxo Cerdán
and Miguel Fernández Labayen’s meticulous analysis of how the Seville-
based La Zanfoña Producciones bridges the local and the global. The
remaining essays in Part II – on Justino, un asesino de la tercera edad; recent
political thrillers; and Airbag and Smoking Room – tell us more about the
specific films discussed than about genre as a concept.
The main strength of this volume is its stress on the transnational
nature of cinematic production and circulation, which by definition pro-
duces generic hybridity since, as the editors note in their useful introduc-
tion, genre is ‘a discursive category that mutates in different cultural and
media spaces’ (p. 13).
The Media in Scotland, Neil Blain and

David Hutchinson (eds), (2008)
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 286 pp.,
ISBN 978 0 7486 2800 1, Paperback, £17.99,
ISBN 978 0 7486 2799 8, hardback, £52.50
Reviewed by Carme Ferré Pavia, Senior Lecturer at the Department
of Journalism and Communication, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Gaelic-speaking Scottish journalists are unanimous in acknowledging a

difficulty in locating sources in their own language, given the few press
conferences conducted in Gaelic and the fact that there is no Gaelic press
agency. This fact came to light in interviews for a study by Professor Iñaki
Zabaleta on journalism and the media in ten European communities where
minority languages are spoken. Such communities, even if small, have
interesting stories of their own to recount, which they should be able to do
without mediation by outsiders. The Media in Scotland, edited by Neil Blain
and David Hutchinson, endeavours to address this issue in a broad-
ranging study of the Scottish media – past, present and future. The book
examines, from the inside, how Scotland is and has been depicted in press
and broadcasting and draws, furthermore, on both academics and politi-
cians in an endeavour to reach a wide readership.
The book is organised in four sections: an introductory part framing
the discussion; a section on the historical context; another one on the advent
of the audiovisual media; and, finally, a panoramic vision of the future.
Neil Blain and Kathyrn Burnett open the discussion with a chapter on dif-
ferent representations of the Scots in early advertising and magazines and
subsequently in British television. They acknowledge that a question that
remains unanswered is how national values can be projected in a global
context. John Corbett then tackles the language issue in press, radio and
television in terms of a persistent but modest and stereotypical presence.
Reviews 141

Philip Schlesinger points to the fact that communications in Scotland have
always been embedded in a British context – in a relationship that, despite
the ‘considerable autonomy’ (p. 36), is undoubtedly asymmetrical.
In the section on historical background, panoramic perspectives are pro-
vided by David Hutchison on the press, David Bruce on film and cinema and
Maggie Sweeney on broadcasting. As for Scottish actors, their success – ‘a
tale of stops and starts, of false dawns and the occasional blazing comet’ (p.
71) – has failed to be built on in terms of an indigenous film industry.
Contrasting strongly with Catalonia, when the Catalan broadcasting com-
pany, TV3, celebrated twenty years of existence in 2003, Scottish radio and
television broadcasting was still the preserve of Westminster. For Sweeney,
neither the existence of BBC Scotland or of commercial media has conferred
any ‘greater autonomy’ (p. 101) to Scotland in terms of the media.
John R. Cook opens the third section, entitled ‘Screen and Sound’, with
a chapter that raises some interesting points in regard to Scottish televi-
sion drama. Hugh O’Donnell, meanwhile, discusses Scottish soap operas
and the role of language in the community, concluding that ‘Scots is seen
by many of its own speakers as inferior’ (p. 134). Against this backdrop
he discusses why audiences prefer English soaps.
Sarah Neely brings us firmly into the present with a chapter dedicated to
contemporary Scottish cinema, consisting, in her opinion, of largely mascu-
line working-class narratives that are ‘highly personal and individual repre-
sentations of identity rather than aimed towards the collective’ (p. 158). Ken
Garner concludes this section with an analysis of radio and popular music: a
topic of particular interest in Catalonia as one that is generally sidelined in
studies of communications and the culture industry. For Garner, local com-
mercial Scottish radio was successful until around the 1990s, but rigid forms
of commercial music from the USA and England eventually rendered
‘Scotland’s music industry underdeveloped and highly fragmented’ (p.174).
The final section of the book, entitled ‘Themes and Futures’, is effec-
tively an update on issues of identity in terms of genre, ethnicity, the
weight of Gaelic in the Scottish media and sport, with political perceptions
of the public sphere considered from a variety of perspectives. By delving
into more concrete issues that focus discussion on matters of current rele-
vance, this final section is the perfect complement to the comprehensive
background provided in earlier chapters.
The book is particularly interesting in terms of how it transmits an image
of a Scotland framed more from the outside, and in accordance with roman-
tic symbolism, than from within. The perspective of The Media in Scotland is
not Hollywood but Holyrood. The book successfully manages to highlight
the challenges faced by all historical communities that lack a consolidated
communicative space of their own. Such communities are in dire need of
publications like this, in which academic thinking displaces the perspective
of the mass media. The book competently fulfils the task of depicting and
interpreting the current state of communications in Scotland – weak in
many senses and operating in a scenario that is, as Schlesinger points out,
still ‘inconsistent’ to handling culture (p. 48). If only the Bretons, Sámi,
Welsh and Corsicans could also lay hands on their own work of reference of
this nature, as it has the effect of normalizing a communications arena in
which balance is precarious.
142 Reviews

‘La recerca en comunicació en el País Valencià’ (Research
into communication in Valencia), Gómez Mompart, Josep
Lluís (ed): special issue of Treballs de Comunicació, no. 22
(June 2007; first edition June 2008)
Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Comunicació, 314 pp.,
ISBN 1131-5687, paperback, 7,50 €.
Reviewed by Bernat López, Senior Lecturer at the Department of
Communication Studies, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain.
Josep Lluís Gómez Mompart, Professor of Communication History at the

Universitat de València, edited this special issue of Treballs de Comunicació –
the academic journal of the Societat Catalana de Comunicació (Catalan
Mass Communication Research Society) – in 2007. His remarkable work
has resulted in a comprehensive, thorough and up-to-date description of the
state of research into the media and communication in the Valencian region
of Spain. Nothing seems to be lacking in this volume. The topic is explored
exhaustively in sixteen thematic chapters covering areas and specialisms
representing the broader field of media and communication studies. The vol-
ume also includes an introduction and a closing chapter that takes the
measure of over 200 doctoral theses produced in Valencian universities and
dealing with topics related to the field.
Furthermore, formal aspects of this special issue are on a level with
the quality of its content. The journal layout is modern and copy-editing
is neat and crisp. In this issue, supervised by Magda Sellés, everything
seems to be in the right place and in the proper form; this facilitates
leafing through the volume and makes reading, if not exactly a pleasure
(which is not the goal of the publication), certainly straightforward.
Form and content, therefore, converge to make this a valuable resource
for the Valencian (indeed, for any) academic community. As the first
endeavour of its kind, it is also a much needed resource. Researchers in
Catalonia, in comparison, have had their own field map since 1997,
thanks to Jordi Berrio et al.’s Un segle de recerca sobre comunicació a
Catalunya: estudi crític dels principals àmbits d’investigació de la comunicació
de massa (A century of research into communication in Catalonia: a
critical study of the main mass communication research areas).
Corresponding also to 1997 was a similar endeavour on a much larger
scale published in a special issue of Anàlisi. Quaderns de Comunicació i
Cultura, No. 21. A description of the state of research in western
European countries, it also included an article by the much mourned
Daniel E. Jones on Spain as a whole. Nonetheless, such studies lack the
detail of regional approaches like the studies by Berrio et al. and Gómez
Mompart.
If we are to believe Gómez Mompart, this work is seeing the light of day
at a particularly propitious moment, as it is twenty years since this disci-
pline was introduced as a university subject in Valencia, and so there is
finally sufficient material on which to build an inventory. The issue’s
eighteen articles are documented by almost 900 references; assuming that
one third are works cited more than once, or authored by non-Valencian
researchers, that still leaves around 600 references that represent a
Reviews 143
CJCS_1.1_12_Rev_Payne_135-144.indd 143 8/6/09 8:36:14 AM

considerable amount of scholarship by a relatively young community
based in six different universities.
A concluding remark: many of the issue’s contributors stress the non-
systematic and dispersed nature of Valencian scientific production in
regard to most media and communication-related topics. Maybe a confir-
mation of this is the fact that such a timely and comprehensive snapshot
of Valencian scholarship in this field is published in a Catalan – not a
Valencian – journal.
144 Reviews

Catalan Journal of Communication &amp; Cultural Studies 1.1

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Cultural and communications policy and the stateless nation 11

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Cultural and communications policy and the stateless nation 13

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Does communication studies have an

Introduction: relevant questions on disciplines, identity and

Communication is wonderful because it is the basis of human fellowship;

CJCS 1 (1) pp. 15–27 © Intellect Ltd 2009 15

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Disciplines are defined not by cores of knowledge (epistemologies) but by

This approach to the concept of discipline can help us address Nordenstreng’s

16 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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Defining our own identity

Does communication studies have an identity? 17

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He calls for serious soul-searching and critical examination of the identity

Extrinsically, it is important to justify the existence and growth of our field

Kuhn already addressed these questions when he claimed that scientific

Communication research: more than a field

18 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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Academic disciplines, in this view, are distinguished not by the parcels

In the introduction to his best-known book, Being and Time, Heidegger

Does communication studies have an identity? 19

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Communication, from a communicational perspective, is not a secondary

Thus, communication science may exist because the communicational

20 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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What are we lacking?

Does communication studies have an identity? 21

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A proposal for a working paradigm

22 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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Mental spaces, metonymy, conceptual blending or figure/ground effects

Does communication studies have an identity? 23

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24 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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Does communication studies have an identity? 25

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26 Leonarda García Jiménez and Susana Martínez Guillem

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Susana Martínez Guillem holds an MA in communication from the University

Does communication studies have an identity? 27

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Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1.1

Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 1.1