Definition of the Problem:

This research project aims to know what the public image of the unrest, caused by the immigration flows in Spain, that television constructs through its narrator and discursive activity. As dominant mass media, its influence is presumed crucial not only for the public perception of such problems, but also to the process of competition between social actors for defining the problem and public policies on immigration.

The project aims to study empirically and systematically how Spanish generalist television is involved in the definition as a "public issue" of the conflict, and thus how these chains are configured as both central narrators of the conflict and as political actors and proposing promoting certain policies.

The relative newness of the increasing flows of immigration in Spain requires specific attention to assess the status of the dominant representations of the immigration conflicts and to act and make decisions knowingly involved in the different fronts and different social actors and politicians. The media in general and television in particular, are of course not the only actors in the processes of competition for the definition of the problem, but they are central narrators and commentators of such processes. The involvement of the mass media in establishing not only the thematic agendas, but also the prioritization and inclusion of interpretation and action frames before the public and other socio-political actors, is now out of doubt. In the specific context of policy-making processes, the television holds a competitive race between political actors propose models of defining social problems, and consequently proposed strategies for political action at all levels (for parties, governments, institutions, public, civic organizations, etc.).

Thus, assuming the centrality of television in the construction of the public knowledge about social conflict, this research project starts from a key question: what is the intervention of television in the definition of the problem of immigration in Spain and, more specifically, what are the different versions of the different TV channels to their audiences. From the comparative study of the representations of the different tv channels we can infer what is the dominant perception in Spain of the situation, reception and integration of groups of immigration and, above all, how all the problems and conflicts related to immigration are defined as a public problem, suitable to be part of the political agenda and the corresponding process of debate, formulation and adoption of policies on immigration.

Theoretical background.

The fundamental starting point in this project is based on theoretical assumption is widely accepted in communication theory and political theory, that media companies in a situation of social conflict can only come to be regarded as a problem and as public problem through narrative and discursive intervention of the media. Nobody argues that television holds a hegemonic role in the processes of narrativization and representation of social and political conflicts.

This project is based on certain theoretical and methodological frameworks. We are located at the intersection of two main lines of theoretical research on the role of media and its mediation in the definition of public problems. On the one hand, that based on the sociology of knowledge suggests considering as central discursive means instruments in the social construction of reality in this line, the study of the news and the key role of journalists and business journalistic processes of selection, categorization and definition of social reality has a strong tradition of obligatory reference studies (eg . Altheide 1976, Tuchman 1978, Gans 1979, Gitlin 1980, Graber 1980, Bennet 1983, etc.) as are already abundant contributions to the study of television fiction as a source of public knowledge of the social reality especially in the Anglo-Saxon and development in Italian, from studies shared as Eurofiction, the European Audiovisual Observatory (Buonanno, 1999).

Moreover, our project is based complementary in research guidance from political theory, particularly of political communication, which considers the media as key intermediates in the construction of public problems, for instance, in determining images reference competing social unrest and political actors who appeal to the intervention of political power. In this regard, of particular interest are some lines of research that attempt to define how social problems become public problems, which actors are more likely to successfully compete in this race, or what forms of engagement between the media system and political system occur in the process of defining a problem as public (eg Edelman 1971 and 1988, Gusfield 1981, Kingdon 1984 Paletz 1987, Best 1988, Ericson, Baranek-Chan 1989, etc.). Thus, the definition of an agenda by the media and the definition of a particular field of conflict as a public issue are closely linked.