TV Crime News in Argentina. Characteristics, Routines and New Sources

CALZADO, MERCEDES; LIO, VANESA

Virtual

Congreso; IV ISA Forum of Sociology; 2021

ISA

The topic of insecurity is part of a social, cultural, and political process linked to the growth of violence and crime in contemporary societies, but also to the increase and transformation of its visibility. Crime news is a central part of TV information in Latin American in general, and in Argentina in particular. In Argentina, nowadays crime news represents the first topic in TV news, according to the data produced by the National Public Defender for Communications.Our proposal presents some results of a research project about the new modes of production of television crime news in Argentina. Our central hypothesis is that technology and cultural changes are transforming the production of TV crime news and affecting the construction of fear in public spaces. Therefore, we propose to explore the creation of content regarding crime in television newscasts, focusing on the ways of accessing the sources, circulation of information, and exhibition strategies. To reach this objective, we use a qualitative approach. The inquiry combines 18 interviews with journalists and news producers of the public (Television Pública) and private (Telefé; América TV; Canal 13; Canal 9; C5N; TN; Crónica) TV channels in Buenos Aires City (Argentina) with observations during the broadcasting of central TV news shows. We produced the data for 12 months in 2017. In the interviews and observation, we examine news? contents; the ways of narrating and enunciating information regarding crimes on TV; the role played by the police in the structure of the news; the production routines, and the emergence of newsources of information related to digital media technologies. We structure the presentation in the three principal findings: i. Reasons for the prominence of crime news on TV; ii. Present characteristics of TV crime news; iii. Sources and new technologies.