Cultural Press in Spain. The uses of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Digital newspapers act in an interconnected and fragmented context, producing and disseminating social representations in the virtual community. Its virtual action space (the website) has evolved with the rise of social networks. Journalists in this scenario have generated a new capacity for interaction, allowing the audience to create a communicative dialectic. The article analyzes the actions of the cultural press in matters of cultural heritage, focusing on the three most influential digital newspapers in Spain during the months of June, September, and November 2020. Further analysis on one of these time periods (September) compares the degree of engagement and interaction on Instagram and Twitter across the digital newspapers. A study using a mixed-methods research design was carried out anchored in the analysis of the textual and visual content of publications posted on the web, together with the use of descriptive statistics involving the indicators for the two social networks. The results showed that UNESCO heritage typologies were present in the culture section of the media agenda, as well as geographic and thematic indicators related to heritage. World Heritage was the most newsworthy while Intangible Heritage the least. The levels of engagement and interaction showed interest and involvement in heritage-related posts.