Collaboration and fusion of Basque local media: opportunities for development and for citizen participation
Collaboration and fusion of Basque local media: opportunities for development and for citizen participation

Author(s): Eneko Bidegain, Aitor Zuberogoitia, Txema Egaña, Ainhoa Larrañaga
Subject(s): Media studies, Civil Society, Politics and communication, Theory of Communication
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Local media; citizen participation; local press; Basque; Basque language;
Summary/Abstract: The local professional press in Basque started around 1989–1990. It has been predominantly located in villages, but from 2000 onwards it began to spread through the valleys and regions. This process is not yet complete. As such, this chapter aims to analyse the mechanisms of collaboration among Basque local media, which are using new technologies and striving to develop community participation. The Basque language is spoken in the Basque Country, and is a minority language due to the linguistic policies of Spain and France, which impose Spanish and French as primary languages but do not confer the same rights on Basque. The Basque language is not official in the northern (French) part of the country; it is co-official in the southern (Spanish) part, but only Spanish is obligatory. Thus, there is a situation of diglossia throughout the Basque Country, in which the Basque language is always the weaker.

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