Ενημέρωση και θέαμα σε εκλογικά έτη: η στάση της κρατικής και της ιδιωτικής τηλεόρασης

Abstract

In this paper we examine the concept of infotainment during the years of national elections, in the field of state and of private television, through the analysis of statistical data which support or not three related hypotheses, in five European countries. We also examine the impact of commercialization and of post modernization in the heightening of infotainment. We analyze the shifting in the amount of information and entertainment programs and we conclude that although infotainment is deepening, this process is contained and the public seems reserved in some countries. We also discern a probable relation among, on the one hand, the deepening of infotainment in state television, alongside a rise of information and news programs in private television with, on the other hand, a rise of populist conservative political forces.