By Emily Faller

While Point Park students visited Portugal, Professor Paulo Faustino spoke to us about its media system, strategies and industry trends, and business challenges.

Faustino teaches at the New University of Lisbon, and he welcomed us at its Research Center in Media and Journalism to start the class’ media visit in the second country on its itinerary. He is also chair of the International Media Management Academic Association in Portugal. No identification of Faustino or note where we met. You have to have both for background and context in this article.

The 10 main media groups (he was specific, so let’s be in the article) in Portugal are owned by national groups and investors, except in the case of Media Capital. In 2005, it became controlled by Prisa Group, a Spanish company, and Bertelsmann group, a German company.

Some of the main players now are:

• Nos – A group based on predominantly national capital (Sonae Group) and Angolan, which is the leading distributor of cable TV, but recently obtained a new shareholder and help, namely capital from Angola. ??? This sentence isn’t making sense
• Impresa – A group funded by predominantly national capital, whose main activity areas are television, magazines, newspapers and distribution.
• Media Capital – dominated by Grupo Prisa (Spain), its main activities are television and radio.
• Cofina – A group founded on national capital, which focuses on the press segment, particularly newspapers and magazines.
• Global Media – A group of national investors and Angolan capital whose main assets rely on daily press (national and regional) and Radio. (You need to translate this a bit from his Portuguese to English translation …. That means adding few words. I know this is right from his PowerPoint, but we have to make it readable and understandable.)

Faustino’s lecture detailed the newspaper business dynamics and ownership concentration in Portugal and Brazil. The information for this area of concentration has been found through data and official statistics as well as other sources. A characteristic found in the Portuguese newspaper market is that media concentration movements arise in part from the need for companies to consolidate the domestic market. He also noted that the advertising market for the major Portuguese media is stable as the country continues to rebound from the economic crisis of 2008-09. (I think this is important to add.)

In the last five years, media companies became more proactive in exploring new markets. This has remained especially true with former Portuguese colonies such as Brazil and Angola. In Brazil, media companies also need to consolidate, he said, but the domestic market is very large and their space and opportunities continue to grow. While Brazilian media companies have opted to reinforce their position in the domestic market, the Brazilian newspaper publisher’s didn´t invest in internationalization strategies.

The Portuguese media system has more regulatory mechanisms than Brazil, which is very fragmented and has no regulatory body for its media sector. The connection of political actors and the media sector in Brazil, especially as owners of radio stations (although prohibited by law), is far superior to Portugal, Faustino said. The political, economic and regulatory context in Brazil (and Latin America in general) is more vulnerable than in Portugal. Based on preliminary data, Brazil’s media market is more concentrated when compared Portugal. For Portugal to continue growing the country needs to collect more date and analyze the ownership concentration in a multimedia perspective.

Where Faustino sees potential growth is the fact that the Portuguese language today is the fourth highest spoken language. Although Portugal was the pioneer country of globalization, it was only until the demographic development of Brazil and African ex-colonies that Portuguese was among the most influential languages in the international context. About 244 million people are able to speak Portuguese, while 845 million people can speak Chinese, and 328 million people can speak English.

With a language that is so widely used, it has more influence and creates a market, giving power to the speakers of that language. The value of a language is related to the number and economical power of its users, Faustino said. In a global world, the Portuguese language is an international communication language due to the economic growth of Brazil and Angola. Brazil is part of the BRIC countries, including Russia, India and China, which are the emergent markets. The recognition of better government practices in the universe of Portuguese-speaking countries also helps with international communication.

By Ashley Kolumban

On a neighborhood walk one evening with tour manager Mauricio Macarron Larumbe, we walked through Madrid’s main square: Plaza Mayor. Located right in the center of the city, the square is filled with outdoor cafes and eateries that serve classic tapas and glasses of native wine.

Three-story buildings, some with original façade, create the square shape was once where Plaza del Arrabal market. But just a few blocks away Puerta del Sol is located.

We walked through Puerta del Sol and found illusionists in the middle of it, showing off their talents. Both of them were dressed in elegant middle-eastern garb of sort. One sat Indian-style with a short pole in his hand and the other sat atop the pole also sitting Indian-style with his legs crossed. It was an incredible levitation trick.

The square, which received its name from the eastern positioning from which the square faced, was flooded with people and was clearly a magnet for tourists and Spaniards, especially during the holiday season and New Year’s Eve.

Similar to the iconic celebratory gathering in Times Square where many spend the end of the current year and the beginning of the next, Puerta del Sol holds an event to ring in the new year.

A building called the Real Casa de Correos was originally home to a post office, but now it serves as the headquarters for the President of Madrid’s Autonomous Community, according to gomadrid.com. Gated and guarded, the building stands front and center with a clock tower several stories up. Those who come to celebrate wait for the clock to strike midnight and follow with a night full of celebrating and of course, drinking.

Spending New Year’s Eve waiting for the 12 chimes at Puerta del Sol is one of the three main traditions the Spanish like to do. Other popular outings include spending time at a family home while sharing a late dinner waiting to watch the 12 chimes be televised or celebrating in a restaurant.

A tradition that the Spanish have adopted for ringing in the New Year with luck is eating 12 grapes or raisins at the stroke of midnight. Then it’s off to the discos.

In the square, there’s a statue of a bear standing on his hind legs climbing a small tree. The 20-ton statue is one of the most iconic symbols of Madrid. Named el oso y el modrono, Spain had a heavy population of the animals during the Middle Ages. In an attempt to stay true and keep a remembrance of the old country, the emblem of the bear stands as a reminder of it according to madridtourist.info.

The exact center point of Spain

Outside of the old post office inlaid into the concrete is a place marker representing the very center of Spain. Originally placed in 1950, the current marker is the replacement that was set in the same exact place in 2009, according to gomadrid.com. This point in the sidewalk is where Spain’s six national roads have their start, Macarron told us.

We all took our turn standing at this milestone. That was the point when it actually felt as we finally traveled across the ocean and into Spain.

After the endless days of preparation, what felt like endless hours traveling, and still in the process of kicking the tiresome feeling of jet lag, this was the official marking that we were in a new country and ready for new adventures.

Nice work here, Ashley. We made a few adjustments, mainly for readability and some grammatical and punctuation issues that needed to be fixed. We trimmed it just a bit, too. Look at how we adjusted the close in particular to capture that “we were finally in Spain” feeling.

Photos and story by Dana Bohince

Your sense of time may disappear as you walk through the city of Toledo, Spain.

Point Park University students experienced this first hand on a trip to the medieval town. With it being a short trip from Madrid, Toledo proved to be an interesting and valuable day trip for them. They learned that the old location, which is now a popular destination for tourists, had been important in Spain for centuries. After all, it has been inhabited for 3,000 years.

Toledo entered into history with the Romans. They came to Toledo in the third century B.C. It was a Roman city for 700 years. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Moors from Northern Africa captured most of the Iberian Peninsula. They took rule of Toledo, although Christians and Jews still remained in the city and co-existed with the Muslims.

Eventually, Alfonso VI of Castile took control of Toledo with Christian forces. The cultural and historical heritage was preserved even with an economic decline in the once flourishing city. Because of its rich history and culture, Toledo was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1986.

Layers of civilization literally emit from the land. The entire visible city is built over older remains.

When first driving up, visitors will see the city set on a hill surrounded by the Tagus River, making it a natural fortress. The river runs the whole way around the city, like a moat, making it an excellent place for people to live throughout its historic times. Not only does it surround the city, but also it is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula.

“If you get lost in Toledo today, take a boat on the river and you’ll be in Lisbon in five days,” Mauricio Macarron Larumbe, the group’s Spanish tour guide, said.

The precipitously steep slopes give the town a sense of protection and seclusion from the rest of the area. A massive cluster of old walls, stony bridges, and beige facades and rooftops can be seen. The large cathedral and castle are easy to be picked out on the landscape. The ruins of an Arab bath remain near the steadily flowing river.

“The only way to see Toledo is from the outside,” Macarron said.

The houses and buildings are packed so tightly together that roads can barely be made out.

As visitors start walking through the winding, cobblestone and sometimes-steep streets, they will feel the timeless atmosphere the town has to offer. It also has a calm ambience. The narrow streets are quiet as many birds circle above chirping songs.

Besides its pretty scenery and prominent history, Toledo is famous because of the many crafts produced within the walls of the city. Steel swords, daggers, damascene and jewelry are all favored crafts and popular souvenirs. Shops around town sell marzipan confections, a popular treat for citizens and visitors alike. Students got the chance to see live demonstrations of the sword and damascene crafts. They tried marzipan, walked through the streets and toured the gothic cathedral, named Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary.

“I was taken aback by the beautiful cathedral we visited in the town,” Alicia Green, junior journalism major, said. “I couldn’t believe how huge it was inside and all the detail.”

The cathedral is a popular attraction with its collection of musical instruments, unique chapels, fresco paintings, and other embellishments.

“My favorite part of the church was definitely the stained glass. I felt like those told little stories to create an overall picture,” Green said.

The cathedral also houses a popular painting by famous Spanish Renaissance painter El Greco who lived in Toledo. The masterpiece, titled “The Disrobing of Christ,” hangs in the high altar.

The many alluring establishments and historical and cultural diversity of Toledo make it the gem that it is.

Photos and story by Dana Bohince

Having been around for 134 years and surviving two world wars and the Spanish Civil War, La Vanguardia has seen it all and continues to communicate to a loyal audience.

La Vanguardia is a Spanish daily newspaper ranked with the fourth-highest circulation among other popular newspapers. It prints editions in both Spanish and Catalan, and circulates almost 150,000 copies daily.

Point Park University students had the chance to visit the headquarters in Barcelona, Spain and receive a tour of the newsroom.

Journalism major Ashley Kolumban was especially captivated by the visit.

“One thing that really stuck with me was that no matter what country you’re in, every newsprint office has desks flooded with papers and stacks of books. Even though we all speak different languages, the way of going about collecting and telling the news translates just about the same,” she said.

Although the newsroom looked about the same as an American one, something was missing — the writers. Even though it was around 10:30 a.m., most workers either had not started the day yet or were out on an assignment.

The writer deadline is 11 p.m., and some teams work until 3 a.m. to provide any last changes to the stories.

Throughout its history, the same family has owned the newspaper, an unusual situation in Spain. Yet, La Vanguardia is keeping the family business tradition alive. In fact, the 73-year-old president of the company, Javier Godó, is active in the day-to-day decision making of the newspaper.

“He comes into the office to debate with deputy editors and give his opinion, and then he allows us to do what we want,” Ismael Nafría, digital innovation director, said.

When making decisions, the paper tries to keep a balance between what readers want and what it as an influencer should do.

“As a student I thought it was good to have total freedom in the newsroom and not have owners involved, but now having seen it I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Deputy Editor Miguel Molina said,

La Vanguardia currently has no debt. It did, however, lose 70 percent of advertisers since Spain’s economic crisis in 2008.

“It has been very difficult to cope with this situation,” said Molina.

While thinking about costs, La Vanguardia formatted the size of the paper to be smaller.

One way the paper has been able to make more money is by owning its own printing press. It even publishes some of its competitors’ papers.

La Vanguardia employs 180 journalists, including staff abroad and in Madrid. There are around 30 people working under the digital newsroom. The innovation section has five to six people in video production and a design and analytics team.

The transition to digital technology has been difficult because citizens do not want to pay for content, according to Nafría. Yet, every day 10,0000 people read the paper on an iPod or tablet. Half of the website visits are mobile. For this reason, La Vanguardia is improving the website to make it easier to use. This site should be completed in October 2016.

The way people consume news on the website is different. Right now, the content is all the same in the newspaper and on the website, but the paper is in the process of merging the newsroom with the 24-hour digital team to work together. This way it can create new content specific for the mobile site.

Digital team members will be assigned to different sections.

“At the moment, we have to decide who’s going to be chief of each section, who’s going to balance the work of different ideologies,” said Molina.

Readers of the paper are the high and middle classes of Spain, and these people tend to fall into a certain area of ideology.

“We have always been trying to adapt to that, and if we changed that … we’d lose everybody,” said Nafría.

La Vanguardia is known for gravitating to the center of politics and not being radical with its opinions.

“We are in the middle, and we are influencers. We try to balance and explain things as they are and not to be influenced by politicians on both sides,” said Molina.

There are around 5,000 digital subscribers. About 3,000 comments are published on the website every day, and there is a small team of moderators who monitor it all day due to problems with offensive comments.

“We have been improving tools for moderating, and it’s getting better,” said Nafría.

As far as social media goes, La Vanguardia is a little bit behind its competitors. The digital team is trying to catch up and hopes to eventually be fully active on social media. Many people are now getting news from social networks, and La Vanguardria realizes it has to be there for this reason.

“We are behind other papers in Spain but at the end of the day have just as much traffic,” said Nafría. “The proportion of traffic and interaction is exactly the same.”

It will have a social media team within the digital newsroom to implement daily strategies for Facebook and Twitter accounts. Nafría and Molina believe Twitter is good for conversation but view Facebook as best for news. Yet, the digital team does publish more stories on Twitter.

The team selects stories every day for Facebook and also uses social media as a way to try to give stories a second chance.

The team is starting to use Instagram and hopes to do something with LinkedIn because it is seen as professional.

“Even though La Vanguardia wasn’t the most advanced with their website or online, what they do in print makes up for that. They print in two languages to appeal to a wider audience,” Kolumban said. “Sometimes everything isn’t all about going digital.”

By Alicia Green

Over the last 134 years, La Vanguardia has survived two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War and the Francisco Franco regime while also being controlled and run by the same family for five generations.

And within the last two months, it has managed to become the second biggest newspaper in Spain, following El Pais with 150,000 copies sold daily.

The newspaper is also facing a “very exciting time,” according to Digital Innovation Director Ismael Nafria and Deputy Editor Miguel Molina. Right now, Catalonians are pushing for Catalonia to become an independent. This puts La Vanguardia in the middle because half of its readers are Catalonian.

“We’re just in the middle,” said Nafria. “We are important. We are influential.”

With 180 journalists, including staff in Madrid and 19 foreign correspondents, La Vanguardia deals with all political parties, cultural influencers and major sports teams. And although Nafria and Molina said the newspaper is “more conservative with liberal views in culture,” it does not have a hard time keeping a balance between what its readers want and what La Vanguardia is supposed do to as a newspaper.

For La Vanguardia, it is also all about balancing things out for its Spanish and Catalonian readers. Nafria and Molina pointed out that if one day there is a photograph of Spain’s president on the front page, the newspaper must publish a photograph of Catalonia’s president the following day. Such a good point to make! It illustrates their situation perfectly.

Molina said they get help along the way from group President Javier Godó who is “very active” when it comes to the newspaper. (Let’s add group before his name or people will think he is one of those two other presidents!) He said Godó visits the newsroom often and debates with editors and deputy editors, giving his opinion while still allowing the newspaper to make its own decisions.

“[The president] keeps us in the right way,” Molina said.

Molina said it is “not so bad” to have an owner that willingly comes to debate on day-to-day issues.

Another advantage that comes with being owned by the same family for more than 100 years is lack of debt. According to Molina, while other newspapers are facing money trouble in Spain, La Vanguardia is in decent shape as it is the only newspaper company with no debt.

“In our case, it is so easy,” Molina said. “There is one owner. [There] are constant rumors of Spanish newspapers merging.”

While the newspaper is not in the same state as most Spanish newspapers, it was affected by the economic crisis. As a result of the crisis, La Vanguardia lost 17 percent of its advertisers and had to change its business model. (Now I have seen this in your fellow students’ papers as 70 percent. Your fact here – 17 – is the same as mine. If it were 70 percent, it would be out of business!)

However, the newspaper has managed to bounce back. Molina and Nafria said that most advertisers appear in La Vanguardia’s 116-page Sunday paper, which also happens to be the “main paper.”

Recently, the daily and Sunday newspapers have been filled with politics as elections in Spain were taking place. And while the newspaper is known for its politics, its general news, economics and international sections are also popular.

According to Nafria, they have been pushing for a section in the newspaper that is dedicated to data journalism. He said it has been working “really well” for the last two months as readers appreciate the profound analysis of subjects with different kinds of graphics.

While the print edition of La Vanguardia is making changes, there are also going to be changes for the newspaper digitally.

“We’re focusing now on the new website,” Nafria said, which should be operating by next October.

Nafria said La Vangaurdia has 62,000 subscribers for both print and digital. While most subscribers are print subscribers, there are 5,000 digital subscribers.

With half of its visits coming from mobile devices, La Vanguardia is also in the process of improving problems with its mobile applications.

“Clearly, there is room for improvement, but we try our best” Nafria said.

Even though La Vanguardia’s website is in the process of changing, the newspaper is still working hard to provide 24-hour digital original content for the website with videos, a line of different television programs and instant analysis on a variety of subjects.

“It’s very exciting, but at the same time it’s very worrying,” Nafria said of the major transition.