La configuración de las noticias periodísticas y su influencia en las actitudes morales de las audiencias= Journalistic construction of news and its influence on the moral attitudes of audiences

Abstract

The Mass Media influence on the formation of moral evaluations is increasing in democratic societies, wher one dominant ethical model is replaced with a mix of criteria standards from different cultures. Thus, individuals seek guidance for their social behavior in the Mass Media. This effect seems to contradict the essential media function (and the basis of their legitimization): to produce objective information. Here we propose the idea that the moral influence of journalistic news occurs at the structural level of interpretive patterns, however, is not automatic or mechanical. Alternative interpretations for the current events �advocate frames- are promoted by different social agents. Journalists neutralize them during the construction of news: advocate frames are integrated in one of the few pre-existing journalistic interpretive patterns �news frames- and the professional ideal can be protected. Such news frames lack evaluation and emotional connotation, however, they lead the audience members to predominately moral interpretations, possibly seeking the goal of social adaptation. The pilot study confirmed that the most users� comments in digital diaries displayed moral attitudes. It also revealed structural regulatiries in the influence of news frames on the moral attitudes, which seems to be universal because they were registered in all five investigated countries, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Lithuania and Russia.