An outdated tool in light of the election results? «Newspaper and Radio U Chile

“The first thing that is demonstrated in the election of the weekend is that the strip, and in general the use of advertising was not more relevant. Perhaps in the higher income sectors, the media exposure or the advertising campaign could be effective, but in general this does not allow us to understand the phenomenon of independents ”. In this way, the teacher Octavio Avendaño, of the Faculty of Social Sciences, highlights the new scenario that opened after the triumph of many independent candidates, and the defeat of others that had ample resources in their favor.

In this regard, the academic highlighted that “The success of the independents is due to the previous territorial work that existed. Many of those elected had been carrying out social work in those territories linked to causes or promotion of rights or issues related to community development. That had much more influence than exposure and the possibility of appearing in the media, or of carrying out a defined marketing strategy ”.

Among the examples highlighted by Professor Avendaño are those of Tania Madriaga, Camila Zárate and Rodrigo Mundaca, in the race for the position of governor of the Valparaíso Region, or that of Irací Hassler in Santiago, cases where their trajectory as activists he was instrumental in their respective triumphs.

In a similar vein, the teacher Lorena Antezana, from the Institute of Communication and Image (ICEI), assured that part of the phenomenon is explained because “The spaces that are decisive for people to make the voting decision were modified. The candidates need to show themselves and, therefore, they need to circulate at the media level, what happens is that it is no longer in a single type of traditional media, as we were more used to, such as news or debate spaces, and the Stripe”.

In this sense, he believes that the circulation of information on social networks or other types of news sites may have had an impact on the process, which is combined with a greater knowledge and appropriation of specific spaces, as well as an important deployment in the districts. “When you listen to the independent candidates who were successful, they say that they did not invest much in publicity, but they left their feet in the street, targeting the people who are voting the most apparently: older adults who favor face-to-face meetings, and the more young people who do not only go to the traditional media to find out, but also use other strategies ”, says the academic.

Asked about the future importance of aspects such as the band or the regulation of financing, Professor Avendaño explained that they continue to be relevant, above all to create a level playing field among candidates, so it would be important to regulate both aspects. “One of the lessons of the weekend is that It is necessary to create better conditions so that those who have not had them on other occasions have the opportunity to appear, especially alternative lists. But the parties must also take into consideration that politics is no longer done only in restricted spaces, but rather today local work is more relevant than any other type of space“.

For her part, Professor Antezana emphasized that there is a need to know the profile of the real voters, in a context in which there continues to be a participation that has not reached 50 percent of the population since 2012. “Knowing who these people are who are not reaching the polls is essential to see what kind of actions must be taken to convince them to participate and position new candidates”, ended.

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