Los públicos se retratan ante la prensa

Abstract

Los individuos que componen los públicos adoptan ante los medios actitudes dispares; los mensajes causan reacciones diferentes dependiendo de actitudes personales, culturales, ideológicas. Un estudio de las opiniones y actitudes de los lectores vascos sobre la prensa muestra la enorme segmentación producida por razones individuales o colectivas. Pero, lo más sorprendente es que de las respuestas sobre cómo elige, lee, valora o utiliza la prensa, lo que se obtiene es un retrato del propio público. El País Vasco es un microcosmos, un marco idóneo como objeto de estudio: un enclave de alto consumo de medios y cuya prensa ofrece tantas variables como el espectro político y social. Pues bien, pese a la homogeneidad de los medios a los que están expuestos, los lectores vascos al pronunciarse sobre la prensa retratan características que distinguen con claridad tres territorios, Alava, Guipúzcoa y Vizcaya, y su diferente idiosincrasia.

The attitudes which individual members of the public adopt towards the media vary considerably. News stories provoke different reactions in people, depending upon their personal, cultural and ideological attitudes. A study of Basque readersí opinions of and attitudes towards the press has shown the existence of a great degree of segmentation which is due to both individual and collective differences. However, the most surprising aspect is the way in which a portrait of the public itself is obtained from readersí answers to questions about how they choose, read, appreciate or use the press. The Basque Country is a microcosm and provides the ideal setting in which to carry out a study. In the Basque Country there is a high level of media consumption and its press is as varied as its political and social spectrum. Therefore, despite the homogeneity of the media to which Basque readers are exposed, on expressing their attitudes towards the press, they portray characteristics which clearly distinguish the three Basque territories; Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya, each with its own idiosyncrasies.