Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Discussing mediatization of politics based on the portuguese case 125 2004), the relationship between the media and politics in Por- tugal is much more complicated than the one proposed by that theorization (FIGUEIRAS, 2017b). The instrumentalization of the media by political par- ties in Portugal was less intense than in other countries in south- ern Europe, and this differentiating characteristic is explained by the combination of various factors. To better control the country, the dictatorship of An- tónio Salazar (1933-1974) broke the political culture that was un- der construction in Portugal and based on political parties, creat- ing, instead, a single-party regime that lasted more than 40 years (COSTA PINTO, 2002). On the other hand, after the Carnation Rev- olution (1974), the newly formed political parties shaped their identity more around the definition of the Portuguese regime – a Western democracy or a Soviet-inspired socialist republic – than around an ideological definition (FREIRE et al., 2004). Besides, the instability that the media encountered, due to the intense par- tisanship of newsrooms, led to a legacy of aversion to the journal - ists’ instrumentalization and the desire to consolidate the jour - nalistic professionalism. It is also important to consider that the competition between political parties to conquer part of the me- dia space, as a manifestation of association (MANCINI, 2009), has developed more in the largest and most competitive markets in southern Europe. The small size of the Portuguese market did not favor a division such as that seen in Spain and Italy, for example. These factors led to the erosion of the characteristics of the pluralist-polarized model, which characterized the pan- orama of the post-revolution media in Portugal and promoted a different evolutionary path. Currently, the Portuguese media landscape incorporates some of the original characteristics of the pluralist-polarized model and the professionalization of journalism, framed by regulatory practices and bodies, together with a dependence on the market. It is in this specific political-media configuration that the study uses commentary as an indicator of the relationship between the media and politics in Portugal, having in view, also, the debate on the concept of the mediatization of politics. However, before exposing the empirical results, we present the methodological options of the research.