User:Kokoo/Telebasura

Telebasura (a contraction of the Spanish words televisión, television, and basura, garbage) is a pejorative term originating in Spain used to describe television programs that use sensationalism, scandals and other unethical techniques to achieve the highest possible ratings. Telebasura is recognizable by the themes dealt with, the persons brought into focus, but above all by the unbalanced approach to these themes and persons. The term is used both in Spain and in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Similar terms are also used in French: télé-poubelle; and Italian: televisione spazzatura. The concept is much broader than the English term "trash TV", which focuses only on talk shows, and could be referred to as junk TV.

It has proved very difficult to formulate an adequate definition of telebasura, despite the fact that scholarly works have appeared on the phenomenon. This difficulty stems from the fact that no clear criteria can be identified to qualify a program as telebasura, and also because it can concern all genres of television programs. Although it is usually associated with gossip programs, reality series such as Big Brother, certain talk shows, television magazines and telenovelas are also often criticized as being telebasura.

The Audiovisual Council of Catalonia defines telebasura as those TV programs in which "the violation of fundamental rights, the lack of respect for democratic or civic values, such as, for example, the disregard for the dignity of a person, little or no respect for personal life, or shrill, rude and obscene language" appears. And it continues, "all this with the aim of putting the lives of certain persons who lend themselves to it on display, in exchange for the fame that television gives them, or in exchange for a financial consideration." Considerations such as these place the debate about telebasura apart from the discussion about taste.

According to the Center for Sociological Research Spain (CIS), in May 2010, 68.9% of Spaniards felt that television in their country provided little or no quality. Of these people, 51.4% gave as their reason: "there is a lot of telebasura". The channel most commonly associated with this phenomenon is Telecinco. This channel, owned by media conglomerate Mediaset founded by the Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi, has been condemned in the past for privacy violations.