This study analyzes the social value of two media outlets in Basque: Lea-Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza and Hamaika Telebista. Based on a qualitative methodology, interviews with the main stakeholders of both media have been used. The results show the fundamental contribution of both media to territorial cohesion, the normalization of the Basque language, the dissemination of culture, the collaboration with social agents or the construction of collective memory. Among the main conclusions, it is worth highlighting the high social and socioeconomic value that the media in Basque generate for society, despite having limited resources.
In previous years we have been measuring the social value of the media in Basque. After assessing the social value of the media Berria, Goiena, Argia and Alea, on this occasion the media investigated were Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza and Hamaika. We have investigated the social value of these two media in 2024, focusing more on qualitative value. To do this, we have met with the interest groups of each of the media to know the contribution of these media according to them.
The interest groups interviewed on the media Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza have been: Lea Artibai Ikastetxea, Ibarrangelu City Council, Berriatua City Council, 11Barri, EIKA, Bizkaiko Bertsozale Elkartea, Gernika Memoria Leku, AEK and the Destino project.
As for Hamaika Telebista, we have met with Udalbiltza, UEMA, Berria, Naiz Irratia, Gure Esku, Bilgune Feminista, Durango Azoka, UEU, Taupa Movement and a user.
The statements and opinions in this article are those of those interviewed.
1. The value of Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza
The local newspaper Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza was born from two other newspapers: Lea Artibai eta Mutrikuko Hitza was born in 2003 and Busturialdeko Hitza in 2005. they were unified in 2010.
1.1. Territorial structuring and regional character
The word nourishes and strengthens the regional character beyond administrative structures. The historical and natural connection between Lea Artibai and Mutriku has been strengthened through the media and some peoples feel closer because there is the Word. As the only means of communication that covers the whole region, it has become a natural and referential means of contact between citizens.
Apart from this unity and cohesion, the Word plays a vital role in maintaining the balance between the peoples of the region, especially between the large and small nuclei, because it gives voice to the small peoples. If the word did not exist, large populations such as Gernika would act informally as “absorbent cores”. The media, however, pays special attention to smaller towns and guarantees their existence and dynamism.
In addition to a complete vision of the region and the place that each locality has, it informs citizens of what is happening in the neighboring municipality (parties, road cuts, agenda...) and thus promotes contact and mutual knowledge between the different localities.
In this way, it strengthens the sense of community among the people of the region and allows agents and associations to reach places that would not otherwise be accessible. They don’t see it as a small challenge, in the current “globalized context” where “remote content often feels closer”. “It’s the most strategic thing today,” one interviewee said.
1.2. Promotion of the Basque language
The Basque language is the basic raw material of this cohesion. Since the region is the breathing space of the Basque language, they see the Word as an “icon of the breathing spaces”. The fact that the media works in Basque places the activity in Basque “within the normality”. In this way, the normalization of this language is a benefit of the fact that citizens receive information in Basque. The word is “the only means of communication that makes a strategic contribution” to the normalization of the Basque language in the region, since it is consolidated as a “basic pillar” in the Basque language.
In addition, in the region there are many people over 60 years old who are not literate in Basque and who “would not start reading in Basque from a book”, but read the Word. To achieve this, it is very important to have a close press in Basque, both in workplaces and in bars. The fact that they have begun to receive close information has allowed them to skip to other contents (books).
On the other hand, the contents of the Word are or may be useful to “better understand” the language of the people. These contents have been recognized by the interviewees as learning resources from level B2 and level C1/C2. They also offer AEK C1 students the possibility of having a free digital subscription for several months. The creation of this reading habit allows society or public institutions to save the expense of a generalized literacy work.
The Word is also an “integration tool” in this region with a high immigration rate. It has a transversal value when it comes to weaving the community, both for the natives and for the newcomers, since it is a significant tool to Euskaldunize and feel part of the community.
1.3. Proximity and quality of journalism
The proximity of Word is its most precious characteristic for interest groups and is materialized in various ways. Instead of being “locked in the offices”, the journalists of Hitza “walk from town to town, back and forth”. This physical presence makes the relationship between citizens and/or agents and journalists “natural, close and simple”. When any regional initiative emerges, “people spontaneously turn to the Word”, and “the media shows total willingness to listen and echo”.
In this sense, some have referred to the press agency as “citizen” because it “has the capacity to access all the affairs of the peoples”. Journalists have an “antenna character”. “They are inserted in the villages, they reach the themes of the villages, they are intertwined from village to village. In this globalizing context, it gives importance to the native. This will be the only way to save ourselves, and the Word fulfills this function».
The interviewees believe that the quality of journalism feeds on this closeness. Some members of interest groups have used the concept of “zero-kilometer journalism” to define this. Telling the local and doing it in Basque “brings closeness and truthfulness to the information”. Other newspapers look further at the local. “They often get headlines from Bilbao.” “The word, however, has the facility to make journalism better and more accurate by working closely.”
For small peoples, the journalism of the Word is essential, because otherwise they would not be known anywhere. The Word covers neighborhood issues and popular initiatives that “the big media would never tell.” A key to measuring its impact and scope is also how citizens disseminate it later on social networks or via Whatsapp.
For companies, cooperatives, municipalities and associations in the region, “it is the natural means of communication of reference” The Word. Cooperatives and organizations see it as “a suitable companion.” For the municipalities “the Word is the most direct, effective and simple way to communicate”.
1.4. Efficiency and professionalism of the resources
The size of the Hitza team and its limited economic resources have not prevented access to the most remote corners of the region. This shows that they carry out “effective management” and that they are “able to capture practically the whole” of the cultural, political and social agenda of the region.
The “professionalism” of the journalists of Hitza is based on their “natural and close” way of relating and their “proactivity” in the search for information. Sometimes they are called by agents, but many times it is the journalist in charge of the town who calls to ask what they are doing or to know if they have something to tell. This “willingness” to work (“Words are always waiting for us”) means trust in agents and “excellent” professional management.
Agents consider the Word to be a “suitable companion” because it “aligns with their mission” and “demonstrates honesty” in the treatment of information. When they talk about shared mission, they explain “Take care of the Basque language and the regional look”.
On the other hand, interest groups believe that journalists have “adapted professionally” to the new times, since “today they prepare content in an attractive way for both paper and web and constantly update information”.
On the other hand, Hitza’s professionalism is “strengthened” thanks to its strategic links with other projects, which offer a more comprehensive service. For example, 11Barri says that since they are located in the same headquarters of Word in Markina, the two projects complement each other. Their relationship is daily. This provides professional advertising and communication services to the Word. In this way, in addition to the economic activity of the medium, Hitza is also a direct promoter of employment.
The word also has other formal collaborations with other entities, such as large cooperatives such as EIKA or the Bertsozale Elkartea (for example, as a collaborating medium during the bertsolaris championship or for the design of material). This collaboration is considered by the agents as a “demonstration of the professional strength” of the media.
1.5. Archive and memory
In addition to his daily journalistic work, Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza are doing a special work in the field of historical memory, especially in Gernika. However, the Word has become the “main collector” of the elaboration of historical memory. One of Word’s interest groups is the Gernika Memorial Leku platform. According to the interviewee there, “The word has a broader archive than the platform itself, because it has collected all the facts, opinions and speeches that have occurred in the last 20 years.”
Thanks to this twenty years of experience, the archive of the Word has become an “immense treasure” for the population. By recovering old numbers, you can see how different looks and discourses have evolved around the same subject. Likewise, even before the creation of the platform Gernika Memoria Leku, the journalists of Hitza, in collaboration with the House of Culture, completed the book Guernica Gernikara, with the aim of making a historical record of this claim, in which useful information is now available.
Beyond the material they have received, the “differential value” of the Word lies in the “treatment” of memory, which “adds to the official vision” coming from the institutions, that of the people, and is the “showcase” and “voice” of popular construction. “The word is the only medium that contains this historical memory from the bottom up.”
The platform of the Place of Memory Gernika says that the elaboration of historical memory must be “beyond the ephemeris”. “Memory is not something associated with a specific date, but a continuous process throughout the year.” They’re working on it all year. The intention of the agents is not to link the memory only to the ephemeris of April 26, and the Word “adheres to this philosophy, giving full continuity to the conferences, exhibitions and expressions that take place throughout the year”. In addition to what happened, the Word also carries out the exercise of connecting the current cultural agenda with memory, thus “helping to keep the issues alive”.
However, its value goes beyond the work of archiving. “Although we are often unconscious, the daily work of the Word is an essential source for future researchers.”
1.6. Quantitative value
We have described the qualitative nature of social value in the previous lines. This is the most important thing, and although an effort may be made to translate this into economic data, it cannot be entirely accurate. However, it is the economic activity itself that generates value through paid wages, VAT, taxes on profits, etc. Hitza received grants in the amount of 430,714 euros in 2024. But the socioeconomic return generated by the activity itself is 261,533 euros. In other words, it has returned to society 1.61 times more aid than it has received (including subsidies).
The socio-economic value, on the other hand, is measured by the economic value with indirect impact, such as the one paid to suppliers. In this case, for every euro received, it returns 2.09 euros to society.
The measurement of the specific social value can be a less concrete exercise, but taking into account its contribution to literacy, the promotion of the Basque language, public cohesion and information about the country, the archive, etc., a precautionary fact could be given: for every euro received, it has contributed 4.30 euros more to society as a specific social value. In general, therefore, the overall specific value is set at EUR 2,320,027, i.e. EUR 6,39 per EUR received.
2. The social value of Hamaika TV
Hamaika Telebista (hereinafter, Hamaika) was created in 2006 by different communication companies: Berria Group (formerly EKT), Basque Media Dissemination Association (Gara and Naiz), CMN TV (Grupo Noticias), Elkar, Euskaltel and Bainet. They have offices in the four capitals of Hego Euskal Herria and have specific programs by country, although they also seek national cohesion. As for the French Basque Country, they have a close relationship with Kanaldude.
2.1. Territorial vision
Hamaika TV has a national vision and “makes a great contribution to popular cohesion and territorial vision”. Udalbiltza is one of the interest groups of Hamaika. His field of work is the whole of the Basque Country, and for him it is very important that Hamaika has the same vision. In this sense, it has delegations in the four countries of the Southern Basque Country and in the Northern Basque Country it has organized a close collaboration with the television Kanaldude. Thanks to the agreements reached with him, the contents of Kanaldude (for example, the program Harri salda) can be seen in Hamaika, thus giving way to the French Basque Country.
In addition to a national perspective, it also focuses on a regional and local perspective. In line with the space allocated to the Kanaldude session, the four delegations of Hego Euskal Herria create the corresponding contents. In this sense, Hamaika de Navarra has been chosen as an example, highlighting the quality of the sessions such as Memoria de los Huesos or NafarAway. Once again, it gives an echo to the local town halls and offers the opportunity to get to know the towns of the Basque Country. In this sense, the Bizberri program has been described as an example, because it gives importance to the “small economy linked to local development”, that is, to the peasants. In this way, they combine a national and local vision. According to the interviewees of the interest groups, it is a popular and national media at the same time. When they give an echo to local municipalities, they cultivate territoriality in a way that, in addition to a global vision, allows them to know the peoples of the Basque Country. One actor says that this is also acting with a “national vision”.
2.2. Promotion of Basque culture
Among the interest groups interviewed, there is one specifically dedicated to cultural activity: Fair of Durango. However, the representatives of the other interest groups have also highlighted the work of Hamaika in the dissemination of Basque culture. Hamaika is an important travel companion for the Durangoko Azoka, which every year broadcasts live the concerts of Ahotsenea and the contents of Azoka TV. For Hamaika, the Durangoko Azoka offers content to complete the programming, while Hamaika echoes the cultural activities organized by the Azoka. Offering this wide range, they make a deep reference to the novelties of the Durango Fair and carry out numerous interviews.
On the other hand, Hamaika also collaborates in the creation program of Geuretik sortu organized by Udalbiltza. Hamaika has made video pills about the creative projects that Udalbiltza subsidizes through this program and has recorded all its performances. In the opinion of Udalbiltza, this is an essential work to disseminate the cultural and popular vision and philosophy of this institution.
In addition, Hamaika makes a very outstanding and important contribution to Basque music and creation. Specifically, the Live Music program has been praised by all. it already has more than 300 episodes in which the presenter Koldo Otamendi has interviewed almost all the musicians and singers of the Basque scene. In this way, they have unveiled 300 musical groups that would otherwise be invisible.
Anyway, Hamaika also offers more windows to Basque music. Many of the interviewees are parents and are struck by how much their teenage children follow the music programming of this television channel. Throughout the day they put on the antenna numerous video clips of Basque singers and groups. Anyone could think that it could be a trick to complete the hours, but the young people are fans of that moment and thanks to it they know what is emerging in Basque music. “Hamaika music is an important window for young people. They put video clips of music groups through which it reaches young people.”
It also makes special follow-up of festivals such as Hatortxu and LER. In addition to music, there is also room for other cultural manifestations, such as bertsolaris and theatrical performances.
The benefit of this is two-way. On the one hand, they allow to show musical groups that otherwise do not have visibility, offer a better and more complete photograph of Basque music and reflect the rich offer of musical groups. On the other hand, and as a result, young people approach the Basque language and Basque culture.
“It’s a way to motivate young people. In this sense, public institutions (Basque Government, Government of Navarre, Basque Urban College) have a great challenge: that Basque is the language of the street, the living language. We don’t motivate young people. To make known our treasure in Basque culture, it takes a lot of money. They should make huge expenses to put Basque culture in the spotlight. What Hamaika does is a gift. It saves a lot of money for organizations.”
2.3. The diversity of the media
The interviewees have valued the existence of a new offer among national television in Basque. They say that Hamaika has broken the monopoly of television in Basque that ETB had for many years. Of course, there are local televisions in Basque, but even if Hamaika could be compared with local or regional televisions, they see it as a television of vocation and national diffusion. Although all recognize that Hamaika has fewer resources, they praise the fact that Basque speakers have the opportunity to watch another television and believe that “this contributes to the creation of an ecosystem”.
Hamaika “has no political limit to ETB.” For this reason, in Hamaika you can listen to “voices that do not appear” in Euskal Telebista or you can see “formats that do not work” in ETB. For example, in the Kolpez bump they work on current affairs “freely” and conduct interviews that would not be carried out in ETB.
This editorial line allows for a diversity of opinions or points of view in the eyes of interest groups. “The Basque public has the opportunity to choose.” For example, on election night, it offers a “different perspective.” When they talk about vision, they are not only talking about the place given to a political party or trend, but also about how to focus on different issues. When they talk about the local economy, for example, instead of giving importance to tourism in the news, they focus on agriculture or small businesses. Or on feminist issues, Hamaika is the “only television in Basque” that gives so much space to Bilgune Feminista.
2.4. Collaboration with agents
Transversality and collaboration are one of the characteristics of Hamaika. With multiple actors behind it, “collaboration is part of their DNA.” In fact, “they have a special interest in promoting popular and small projects”. They work with different agents and social initiatives to publicize their projects.
The social initiative Gure Esku organized the Bagara marathon. The Hamaika offered the live broadcast of that 12-hour event, all the time that the event lasted. Gure Esku himself was the producer, but they took advantage of the channels of Hamaika to spread this live.
They also broadcast live Korrika. In addition to the opening and closing ceremony, which is also offered by other media, the entire Korrika tour is broadcast live. In the ten days that the race lasts, there are hardly any more in Hamaika. However, this program reaches a large number of viewers. “It’s amazing to be following the race. It seemed like a miracle, but they succeeded. They explain the magic of the race. Even if I don"t know the town, I can watch it for half an hour. The other media can’t do it,” says one viewer.
Hamaika has developed an informal relationship with UEMA (Basque Municipal Community). Like the rest, they have no contract. But they have a pretty close relationship. “All UEMA initiatives are closely monitored” Hamaika. «It gives a lot of space to popular initiatives and the Basque language. Access to other media is much more difficult”, according to the representative of UEMA. The collaboration between UEMA and Hamaika was organized around the thesis of Iñaki Iurrebaso. They collaborated in the elaboration of a series of programs to explain this work in an informative way. In collaboration with UEMA, 11 videos were produced and disseminated that offered keys to understand the situation of the Basque language. UEMA wrote the script and texts, and Hamaika took care of graphics and editing, among other things. “Thanks to that, I’ve been able to understand the nature of the project.” To carry out this collaboration, there were no economic transactions.
On the other hand, the podcast Ikerl(h) co-produced with UEU was broadcast for a season.
In short, it is a television “open to agents” that does not ask for exclusivity from anyone.
2.5. Collaboration with other media
It has already been commented that Hamaika has a collaboration with Kanaldude, since some of his programs are broadcast on his antenna. But in addition to the exchange of broadcasts, they have produced several programs in collaboration with other media. The main contributors in this regard are the newspaper Berria and Naiz irratia.
The beginning and end of the Korrika are the culmination of this collaboration in which, in addition to Berria, other media also join. But with Berria they also do other live shows: The sucking of the Sanfermines in Pamplona, the demonstration in favor of the prisoners in January or the San Sebastian Film Festival. They also made several documentaries together. Collaboration allows them to do something that goes beyond the economic resources that each one has. Hamaika has given visibility to Berria by taking advantage of some of his works.
Naiz Irratia, on the other hand, broadcasts election night programs with Hamaika. “By pooling the resources of both, better results have been achieved.” In addition, the programs of Hamaika Zozoak belea and Station are also useful for the radio.
2.6. Journalism and training
It is a television that, despite having few resources, “gets to do a decent job and contribute”. “Hamaika, although low cost, is effective.” This seems plausible to the interviewees, “at a time when we are used to fireworks.” They have a quality guarantee of “using trusted sources”, which leads interviewees from interest groups to think that they make journalism “reliable”. “They do good journalism, and that’s enough.”
They also believe that at a time when communication is focusing on short content on the network, “linear television still has its function.” “It still has strength, even though there are changes in direction. You need quality and deontological journalism or communication, that’s not what the network gives you, that’s what the project gives you and a team of journalists.”
In general, Hamaika has a young team. Some interviewees acknowledge that the work is precarious. This may make young people not spend a lot of time working there. Over the years “many young people have passed through the Hamaika”. Just as it could be understood as a precarious work, it could also be understood as a training space. “Hamaika schools are great and professional. It is a good place to train young people, since in small televisions it is convenient to do many things. In this work they work more imaginatively, take more responsibility and have to make decisions.” In this way, the young people who have worked in Hamaika have learned to carry out journalistic tasks of all kinds, both in terms of content and writing, and in terms of multimedia.
Finally, some have highlighted that Hamaika puts its contents under a free creative commons license. This allows other media to use videos from Hamaika (Berria, for example, can have them at their fingertips, although they have rarely used them). Wikipedia frequently uses images of Hamaika. “This wealth of material is a treasure because otherwise it is very difficult to find free photos of a person.”
2.7. Quantitative value
The qualitative social value of Hamaika Telebista could also be transferred to economic data in some way.
We have described the qualitative nature of social value in the previous lines. This is the most important thing, and it is difficult to recognize an economic value to it. It is the economic activity itself that generates value through paid wages, VAT, taxes on profits, etc. Hamaika received grants of 1,121,769 euros in 2024. But the socioeconomic return generated by the activity itself is 2,219,935 euros. In other words, it has returned to society 2.98 times more aid than it has received.
The socio-economic value, on the other hand, is measured by the economic value with indirect impact, such as the one paid to suppliers. In this case, for each euro received, it returns 2.90 euros to society.
It is more delicate and vague to calculate the specific social value. An attempt has been made to monetize the qualitative social value mentioned above by calculating the savings achieved by the products generated in collaboration or the cost of the work that has been subtracted from other agents. According to the information received, for each euro acquired, it has returned 1.38 euros to the Society. Due to the inaccuracy of the measurement or the lack of information, this number could be thought to be higher.
In general, Hamaika Telebista has returned 3,676,364 euros to society in 2024.
3. Conclusions
When assessing the social value of Hamaika and Lea Artibai, Mutriku and Busturialdeko Hitza, the main values highlighted by the interest groups are, on the one hand, those related to territoriality or regional cohesion. Hamaika responds to the needs of territoriality in the Basque Country and the Word to its region. In the case of the word, the regions of Lea Artibai on the one hand and Busturialdea on the other are explained, but they contribute to the cohesion of these regions.
The second value refers to the promotion of the Basque language or the dissemination of Basque culture. More has been said about culture in the case of Hamaika and literacy in Basque in the case of Hitza, but both create value for the Basque language and for Basque culture.
The relationship and collaboration with the rest of the agents is also a recurring value. This collaboration is beneficial in both directions. On the other hand, close journalism has been applauded by interest groups in both cases.
The main conclusions obtained in this study confirm the main idea that emerged from the previous research. On the one hand, the media in Basque play an important role in the development of the territorial and regional vision and in the cohesion of the community of that region, and in the preservation of the national vision. Secondly, they are essential tools in the dissemination of the Basque language, in the teaching or literacy of the Basque language, or in the promotion of the Basque language. It’s the same thing with culture. Thirdly, the impact on social actions, collaboration with social agents or the dissemination of information on social concerns are important components, as has been shown in all the studies in which we have measured the social value of the media in Basque. Fourthly, the contribution to education has almost always appeared. In the case of the word, it is not exactly an area of Education, but interest groups have praised the work that is done in the field of historical memory, which can be useful in the field of Education.
In short, it has once again been shown that the media in Basque, despite their limited resources, contribute to society in many ways, because if they did not exist, some essential tasks would be left unfulfilled or other important investments would have to be made by public institutions to fill this gap.