Harmony/Noise and Silence

Presence of Harmony/Noise

In the presence of Noise, there is existing Silence (each media that inserts Noise in the media ecosystem is "silencing" its notes with respect to the others). If there is Harmony, Silence is considered non-existent (due to the thematic coincidence, media with Harmony sound the same note). In Media Polyphony, Noise is preferred, since Harmony is a sign of an authoritarian government and lack of press freedom.

Harmony

Noise

Harmony details

Relation between the newspapers and the topics published on the days when there was Harmony.

INTENSITY

Intensity levels I

Decimal converted percentage of Intensity per day

Intensity levels II

Percentage of newspaper Intensity per day

TIMBRE

Timbre correspondence

Relation between the number of lead stories analyzed and their timbre.

Press model (El Universal)

Sum of Timbre, Noise, Existing Silence and Government Advertising Expenditure, which defines the press model. If the sum of the values is between 0 and 30, the press is allied; if it is between 31 and 60, it is independent; and if it is between 61 and 100, it is opposition.

Press model (Excélsior)

Press model (La Jornada)

Press model (Milenio)

Press model (Reforma)

Media Polyphony

(El Universal)

Sum of the press model, Government Social Approval (GSA), Political-Media Trust (PMC) and Rythm, resulting in the media's information model, which reveals the nature of its true sounds (information).

Media Polyphony (Excélsior)

Media Polyphony (Reforma)

Media Polyphony

(La Jornada)

Media Polyphony (Milenio)

Media Polyphony Spectrogram

Distribution of the lead stories analysed regarding their information model. In the centre is pure pluralism; in the grey areas, moderation of both pluralism and propaganda; and in the top left, governmental power.

MODERATELY

CONSONANT

PLURALISM

La Jornada and Milenio

They make sounds that range from neutral to in tune with public opinion.
Maintain a relative distance from presidential power
They deal in a relatively objective way with political discourse.
Despite being independent press, they tend to be more sympathetic to government discourse
Their coverage shows a bias towards issues and approaches that support official policies

MODERATELY

DISSONANT

PLURALISM

El Universal, Excelsior and Reforma

They make sounds that range from neutral to discordant with public opinion.
Maintain a wide distance from presidential power
They deal in a relatively objective way with political discourse.
Despite being an opposition press, they maintain a certain informational balance.
Their coverage tends to be more critical of government discourse.

FINDINGS

SIGNIFICANCE

It refutes the simplistic idea of purely ‘allied’ or ‘oppositional’ media and reveals the complexity of the media ecosystem.

It demonstrates that editorial positions are not absolute, but operate on a spectrum (e.g. even the opposition press can maintain a degree of pluralism).

It suggests that the media could be able to maintain some editorial autonomy even under political and economic pressures.

The findings validate its usefulness in detecting these nuances that might go unnoticed with more traditional analyses.

FUTURE LINES
OF RESEARCH

AI-based software development for big data analysis
Sonification of information models
Application to other journalistic genres and media formats
Expansion to megapolifonic dimension (international analysis)
Integration with media observatories and regulators