O parlamento nas notícias

: a cobertura jornalística da actividade parlamentar nos canais de televisão generalistas

Abstract

The parliament has been at the origin of the democratic regime, and constitutes the heart of democracy. Representation of citizens at the assembly is assured at the polls, however, in Portugal, levels of trust in political institutions have decreased significantly. Since the media system brings together contemporary societies, we can argue its responsibility for poor levels of trust in politics, through the media coverage. This Dissertation intends to reply to the issue of media coverage of parliamentary functions. Through content analysis of news, from the three main television broadcasters, it is possible to find an answer. The presence of parliamentary functions in the news is low, mainly because of the coverage from RTP and TVI. Furthermore, the style of news is frequently negative; hence the public television broadcaster – RTP – doesn’t convey its goals of objectivity and exempt. Contrariwise, it is a commercial broadcaster – SIC – who delivers those goals of public service, mostly due to the initiative “Global Parliament”. Ultimately the presence of parliamentary functions in the news is due to the BES’s commission of inquiry and the Ministry of Health’s commission

Date of Award	2016
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Figueiras (Supervisor)