The EuskaraBildua Conference, organized in collaboration by Iametza, Argia and Ametzagaiña, obtained a diverse audience. The seven speakers had a great participation in the themes and questions. The last to pronounce the conference was Axier López, head of Argia's multimedia, who gave the following data to explain the monopoly that exists in media ownership: “In the world there are 6 large communication companies in the hands of TVs, radios, newspapers, magazines, music discs, books and most films: Time Warner, Disney, Fox News, Viacom, Seagram, General Electric, Sony and Bertelsmann. The 5 news agencies generate and distribute 96% of the news consumed worldwide. 90% of world information is distributed by the United States, Europe and Japan. 80% of audiovisual products, both on television and in stores, are from the United States.”

The blinds of television

Programming is justified by saying that television is a reflection of reality and that we therefore have what we deserve. “That’s a chimera today. Because it would be a forgetting of the hierarchy in the choice of the content we see every day.” Samples of the television offer resulting from this choice include the following: Frivolization and distribution; Sexism and apology of the only form of beauty; Drowning of reflection in a multitude of news; Vision North, which propagates Eurocentrism to the whole world; which links emigration with crime and criminality; that the referents are millionaires; that television companies promote the exploitation of their workers; False debate, superficial without reaching depth;

ETB under examination

As for the hearings in the CAV, Telecinco leads the list (13.1%), followed by Hello3 (10.3%) and ETB2 is third (9.7%). ETB1 reaches 2.2% share and ETB3 half (1.1%). ETB1 also has a 0.0% share (below 1,000 viewers do not measure audiences).

In the opinion of López, the first chain in Euskera is an “ugly duckling” compared to the other in Spanish: “It is invested less and is full of fillings (hidden camera, fireworks, Alcorcón-Eibar football match, ball matches, spending 2,500 euros every Sunday to celebrate a holy mass...). He also recalled that ETB2 was created with the aim of achieving more audience and more media advertising. He valued that ETB3 was started courageously and that a good attempt was made, but “it is letting itself die, it is becoming for the children.” In his opinion, the biggest problem with public television is that “the model that was thought of in the 1980s, which has remained virtually intact until today, does not want to change”. It highlighted the quality exceptions: Mundo.hoy, Mihiluze, Azpimarra, Tumatxa…

Turn off TV and Erdu network

It acknowledged that the Basque media faces two challenges: “To confront the monopoly of television and the multinationals, and to create readers and audiences in Basque. We have to create habits, because the consumption of today’s citizens is dominated by Spanish media”. In López’s opinion, the keys are young to create audiences, “and young people are mostly on the Internet.” He explained that the crisis and smallness, which are also weaknesses, are also a strong point for change: “Smallness is an advantage to respond faster to changes, we can be the first, create referents. For this we need courage and experimentation. We have to work a whole field, unfortunately and luckily.”

He recommended the following means he has as reference on the Internet: Google News (information based on people searches), CNN Pipeline (which allows viewers to choose cameras they have in different places), BBC (which pay for taxes and have all the file made available to the audience), WebTB (e.g. URL1), La Nut, Fort Apache and Cubainformación answer with points.

Among the Basques are Eguzki Bideo (as they have been offering alternative documentaries with subtitles in Basque for years), Atea Ireki (as the leading citizen journalism), Topatu, Aiaraldea (for working integral communication in Basque, uniting radio, magazine and web), azpitituluak.com, the informative follow-up of various media in the days of strike and Kdude. “The week in which the Iparralde time session was ended at ETB1, the young people of Zuberoa have made a one-hour Mihia Pitz competition in Kanaldude with very few media.”

ARGIA challenges

Coinciding with the success of the videos on the Internet, the Argia website is also ready to be the most visited multimedia section. Within this section, documentaries and short films are the most viewed of the day. At the conference offered by Argia at the EuskaraBildua conference held last year it was said that there were 349,616 visits on Youtube and in one year it has reached 814,612. He explained that the goal is to continue along the same path: “In Basque, copyright makes no sense, because the aim is to disseminate content.”

Once finished Too late, Argia explained that he is working to offer multimedia programming for the whole week (one day the WebTB program, another day the documentaries…), to make it more attractive by ordering the offer as television.

He stressed that experimentation is the way: “In the Bertsolaris Championship of Euskal Herria we will start the mood session (as was done in 2009 in Hitzetik Hultz), we anticipate more live broadcasts, more open sections in multimedia...”. There is no shortage of ideas and projects if the reader and the public accompany them.