Wildfires and their television approach was the theme of the Master dissertation on Media Studies of our colleague Liliana Bento. This Master’s dissertation analyses broadcast news of forest fires in Portugal and the information conveyed according to postmodernism. Besides understanding the information on the protection of people and goods, which is intrinsic to forest fire news, this investigation project also seeks to understand the importance given to the Portuguese forest heritage. The main conclusion to reach with this dissertation is that broadcast news are predominantly postmodernist, focusing on the spectacularization of fire and human drama. Environmental, historical and cultural heritage is not valued in broadcast news – neither from RTP nor from TVI.

Wednesday, 01 May 2013