Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Discussing mediatization of politics based on the portuguese case 127 communication infrastructures (DRIESSEN et al., 2017; COULD- RY; HEPP, 2017) led to the mastery of media logics, and the re- configuration of politics (MEYER, 2002; STRÖMBÄCK, 2008; COULDRY, 2010; MARCINKOWSKI, 2014; ESSER; STRÖMBÄCK, 2014). These premises are at the base of the operationalization of the concept of the mediatization of politics, and, consequently, of the hypotheses developed to substantiate the study. In this way, the quantitative analysis of the commentators’ profile aims to test the subsequent hypotheses. Taking the comment as a component of the newscast and considering that the comment produced by journalist com - mentators may be understood as another component of media interventionism, the first hypothesis of this study is the follow - ing: the visibility of journalists as commentators will increase with time. That said, taking into account the hybrid nature of the Portuguese media system – namely, the tradition of patron- age between politics and the media – and considering that the comment space is a strategic place for politicians to comment on political issues on television, the second hypothesis is: the visi- bility of politicians as commentators will not decrease over time. Under this tradition of support, established parties in Portugal have a privileged relationship with the media , and this complicity leads to the third hypothesis: commentators come principally from traditional political parties. Bearing in mind that in the period of analysis the two power parties in Portugal – the Socialist Party (PS, center-left) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center-right) – governed the country for approxi- mately the same number of years, the fourth hypothesis is as fol- lows: the presence of commentators from the two main parties has been balanced over the years. The longitudinal study, structured in this way, will pro- vide evidence to debate the relationship between the media and politics in Portugal, as well as the construct of the mediatization of politics in the final section of the text. IV – Results and discussion We started by knowing the profile of the commentators who received fixed spaces of opinion on Portuguese television.