Popularization of health in public television: the case of RTVE in 2016s

Abstract

Citizens inform themselves about science and technology mainly through television (FECYT, 2015) and the public broadcasting service is the entity that by law must offer the information, culture, education and entertainment that citizens need. This research aims to know the informative and audiovisual treatment of RTVE’s specialized health programs. The sample consists of the programmes broadcasted in 2016: La mañana (includes Saber Vivir), Centro Médico, Esto es Vida and El Ojo Clínico. A case study methodology will be implemented, a triangulation of methods is applied: a descriptive-analytical exploration of the selected programs, a content analysis of some episodes and of a sample of official tweets issued by the tv programmes accounts and a questionnaire on the informative reception by the audience. The variables analyse aspects of the informative and audiovisual treatment of the tv programmes, as well as tweet’s aims and reporting style. An overall result is the common usage of personal information as scientific sources. El Ojo Clínico and Esto es Vida need to be highlighted for their positive informative reporting, both on screen and on Twitter.