19 October 2017

PRESS RELEASE

TV3 respected the principle of pluralism on 1/O but public state television showed lack of plurality

 TV3 interviewed 7 different political groupings. La 1 and only 4, none pro-sovereignty

 TVE Catalunya devoted 88.4% of speaking time to the Spanish government compared to only 7.8% for the Catalan government. La 1 gave 48.6% to the Spanish government and 15.5% to the Catalan government. TV3 was the only one channel that gave more time to the government of (48% compared to 30% for the government of )

 TVE Catalunya, La 1 and Antena 3 TV did not include violence against people in their headline news

 TV3 was the only channel that interviewed victims

A plenary session of the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC) has approved a report on television news coverage of October 1. The study, which stems from a broader analysis, found that TV3 was the channel that offered the greatest plurality of opinion in its news programmes.

TV3 was the most plural channel when it comes to political parties, giving speaking time to 7 parties. This was followed by La Sexta with 6, and Antena 3 TV, on which 5 parties spoke. La 1 and Telecinco interviewed only 4 political powers, although none were pro-sovereignty. When it comes to political groupings, PSC+PSOE and PPC+PP (in differing orders) had the highest presence on all channels.

An analysis of the speaking time allocated to the Spanish and Catalan governments showed that Telecinco and TV3 gave each a more or less comparable time. However, a significant difference between the speaking times of the two governments was found on TVE Catalunya (88.4% government of Spain and 7.8% government of Catalonia), La 1 (48.6% government of Spain

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and 15.5% government of Catalonia) and Antena 3 TV (54% government of Spain and 15.8% government of Catalonia). The Spanish government was given the longest speaking time on all channels except TV3, which allocated the most to the government of Catalonia.

News programmes. Speaking time given to governments and political powers on 1 October TVE Antena 3 TV3 La 1 Telecinco La Sexta Catalunya TV Governments  Government of 48.0 7.8 15.5 32.2 15.8 28.2 Catalonia  Government of 30.6 88.4 48.6 43.1 54.0 51.2 Spain  Government of Catalan local 3.8 3.8 - 3.6 0.9 - authorities  Government of City 1.9 - 1.8 1.0 1.5 3.2 Council Political parties  PSC + PSOE 6.1 - 11.3 8.7 12.0 3.6  PPC + PP 4.2 - 13.7 4.8 6.2 4.0  Podem + Podemos 2.3 - 5.6 3.2 2.6 3.6  ERC 0.8 - - - - -  CUP 0.8 - - - - 2.4  CAT EN COMÚ 0.7 - - - - -  PDECAT 0.7 - - - 2.6 1.6  C's - - 3.5 3.4 4.4 -  Demòcrates de - - - - - 2.4 Catalunya Total 100 100 100 100 100 100

Furthermore, TV3 was only channel that interviewed the victims of police violence and representatives of the international observers of 1/O.

Distribution by news topic

The CAC report also examined the topics of information that channels covered on 1 October.

On the TV3 news programmes, two overarching areas of information were presented: violence from the National Police and Civil Guard against the people, and reports of voting taking place despite the actions of state law enforcement and security forces. These same areas of information were presented on La Sexta, but in reverse order.

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The other channels - TVE Catalunya, La 1, Telecinco and Antena 3 TV, showed some similarities with regard to the main topics of information. For instance, none (except Telecinco) reported state police violence against the people in the top five news items. In contrast, two channels (TVE Catalunya and Antena 3 TV) highlighted reports of public violence towards the police.

La 1 led with the impact on the football match between FC Barcelona and UD Las Palmas, followed by anomalies in the voting. TVE Catalunya clearly prioritised the position of the Spanish government in its news, whereas Telecinco devoted more time to the "lack of action" of the Mossos d'Esquadra, and Antena 3 TV prioritised news about the illegal nature of the vote and anomalies.

Distribution of information by topic: the top 5 items in terms of time per channel (%)

TV3 State police violence against the public 31.3 Reports on how the voting day was progressing and police action to prevent it 23.1 International repercussions of 1/O 10.4 Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 7.1 Position of the Catalan government on 1/O 6.2

TVE Catalunya Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 40.7 News focused on state police action as complying with judicial requirements 27.0 Public violence towards the state police 7.0 News focused on the "passive" attitude of the Mossos d'Esquadra 5.7 Position of the Catalan government on 1/O 5.4

La 1 Celebration of the match between FC Barcelona and UD Las Palmas behind closed doors 13.7 Aspects of 1/O presented as illegal and/or anomalies in the voting 12.1 Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 11.8 News focused on the "passive" attitude of the Mossos d'Esquadra 11.5 Position of sports people on 1/O 5.8

Telecinco News focused on the "passive" attitude of the Mossos d'Esquadra 19.8 Aspects of 1/O presented as illegal and/or anomalies in the voting 12.8 Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 10.9 Celebration of the match between FC Barcelona and UD Las Palmas behind closed doors 6.8 State police violence against the public 5.7

Antena 3 TV Aspects of 1/O presented as illegal and/or anomalies in the voting 18.5 News focused on the "passive" attitude of the Mossos d'Esquadra 16.7 Public violence towards the state police 10.8

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News focused on state police action as complying with judicial requirements 9.1 Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 8.9

La Sexta Reports on how the voting day was progressing and police action to prevent it 32.2 State police violence against the public 29.3 Position of the Catalan government on 1/O 13.6 Position of the Spanish government on 1/O 13.5 News focused on normality during the voting 3.4

The report was approved at a plenary session of the CAC held yesterday, 18 October, with five votes in favour, two of which were concurring opinions, and one vote against.

News coverage of 1/O (1 October)

For more information: CAC Communications • C / Vergós, 36-42 • 08017 Barcelona Tel .: +34 935 575 000 and +34 627 480 483 • Fax: +34 935 575 003 Email: [email protected] Website:www.cac.cat

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