The Hekimen Association and the UPV/EHU, Mondragon Unibertsitatea and the University of Deusto sign a collaboration agreement

The Basque Media Association Hekimen and the UPV/EHU, Mondragon Unibertsitatea and the University of Deusto have signed today in Bilbao the agreement for the promotion of the Basque Media Observatory. The path initiated in 2012 between the association and various research groups has received institutional support and has established a framework for collaboration between academic institutions and the Basque media. Firman: Alberto Barandiaran, director of Hekimen; Fernando Plazaola, vice-rector for research at UPV/EHU; José María Guibert, rector of the University of Deusto; and Vicente Atxa, rector of Mondragon Unibertsitatea,

This collaboration is based on the development of research, innovation and foresight, the creation of a database of the Basque media, the creation of a teaching and professional community and the development of a meeting space on the Basque media, among others, with the aim of making the Basque media sector stronger and more effective.

In particular, the collaboration between universities and the Hekimen Association will have the following objectives:

• Define a space for research and innovation in Basque media that improves synergies and dynamics of collaboration between the signatory entities.
• Promote, in collaboration with the University, the value of the Basque media, sharing strategies of innovation and knowledge transfer and strengthening links with society.
• Jointly promote the visibility of the Basque media and its research groups, reinforcing the role of communication and Basque in society.

At today's press conference, agents highlighted the importance of Behstrategy not only for the sector, but also for university researchers, as it opens a new space for collaboration between the Basque media and communication experts, and opens its doors to both administrations and the public sector.

Association and five research groups

The Hekimen Association, created in 2012, currently has more than 50 media outlets from all over Euskal Herria, both press, television, radio and internet. Since its creation, this objective was set: to develop a space with Basque universities that would allow us to better understand the reality of the sector. The result of the work carried out in the last three years with different research groups from the three universities, and with the support of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Udalbiltza, the first fruits of the collaboration have been collected, designing and developing the database of the Basque media, promoting research work and publishing the first Basque Media Yearbook.

At the UPV/EHU there are three research groups that work especially in the Basque media. Nor works in literary review and research on the Basque communicative space. The research group HGH (Media, Society and Education) works with quality indexes and objectives for the continuous improvement of the supply of communications in Basque. Finally, the European Media Group on Retail Languages and Journalism (HEKA) has for years developed an analysis of the structure of the media in Basque.
In addition to these groups, the UPV/EHU has other research groups of the Basque University System, recognized by the Government of Eu, which carry out intense R&D work in the field of communication and culture, journalism and communication, the media, the internet and communication and education, among others, and has the Unesco Chair Twin Values in Communication and Education.

The research group of the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Huhezi) analyzes the audiovisual and journalistic production in Basque, its consumption and social projection, as well as the future challenges of the media in Basque. The main objective of this group is to investigate the social projection of audiovisual products, the Basque media and the Internet and its influence as local learning agents

The Institute of Basque Studies of the University of Deusto, together with professors from Mondragon Unibertsitatea and UPV/EHU, is developing a project for qualitative research into media consumption in Basque. The Communication Research Group, attached to the Communication Department of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Deusto, obtained in 2012 the official recognition of the Basque Government.

Works carried out to date

As for the database of the Basque media, the collection of funding, structural or audience data of the media that make up Hekimen has been carried out. Taking into account the nature that the database will soon have, it can be said that it will be an essential tool to understand the evolution of the sector itself, both for companies in the sector and for research universities.

Also, under the auspices of the observatory, the media in 2015 developed a tool for the collection and systematic exploitation of data on Internet consumption, called Hekimen Analytics. Thanks to it, the Basque media, through more than thirty indicators, can know the evolution of network consumption, make comparisons with the rest of the media and analyze the evolution of the sector itself. To analyze consumption and its evolution, several works have been carried out under the Observatory and have been published in various academic journals.

Thanks to the public funding of the observatory, the Hekimen association has also supported the research work that the Heziketa group of Mondragon Unibertsitatea is developing around the social value of the Basque media. The aim of this research work is to value the social contribution of the sector.

The Basque Media Yearbook was presented on December 7 in Durango, within the Fair. A significant sample of research conducted in recent years at the university level on the Basque media has been collected.

As a result of the agreement signed today, these works will be carried out under a concrete framework of collaboration.

Bilbao, 14 January