Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Rita Figueiras 130 the public service. The 6th Paragraph of Article 38 of the Portu- guese Constitution requires that the “possibility of expression and confrontation of different currents of opinion” be ensured in the media public sector. This legal context helps to explain the balance of presence of commentators from the PS and PSD areas in the main news of RTP1 in the analyzed years. In turn, the private channels have commentators from the PS and PSD areas, with the latter standing out in number and the longevity of the collaborations. In several years, we found, even, only politicians of this party in the comment of TVI (2000- 2004; 2010; 2012-2014) and SIC (2013-2015). In general, com- mentators align with their political area, and politicians not aligned with their parties are an exception in the commentary in Portugal. This tends to be a space engaged with the perspectives of the political commentator’s party. In the cable channels, the comment has been an impor- tant element in the broadcasters’ strategy since the start of SIC Notícias, in 2001, RTP Notícias, in 2004, and TVI24, in 2009. This investment has been continuous over the years; and, in prime- time newscasts, alongside individual commentary spaces, we find others that include two commentators on a fixed day of the week. Contrary to what was verified in the generalist chan - nels, it is the journalists who inaugurated the comment spaces in the prime-time newscasts on cable TV, namely SIC Notícias, in 2001. Politicians arrived in this space in 2007, the year in which academics are the dominant profile, but whose presence starts to decline in 2008, when that of politicians and journalists in - creases. This trend contributed to the fact that the diversity of profiles identified in cable TV, in the first years, decreased and converged into the image of generalists, into a space dominat- ed by commentators with links to the political and journalistic spheres. Because of this general characterization, we highlight specificities of each of the prime- time newscasts. The politicians came to the comment of RTP Notícias in 2007, but, since 2009, the newscast has only journalists. At TVI24, politicians were al - ways in a clear majority while, at SIC Notícias, the comment was the exclusive prerogative of journalists until 2005. The decrease