Abstract:This work is an overview of the general situation of Alternative Media in the Basque Country, concentrating on a specific communication project: the pirate radio Hala Bedi Irratia, a tolerated but not completely legal radio station, which in 2008 celebrated its 25th anniversary. The station has thousands of listeners daily and it broadcasts 24 hours a day. It survives thanks to the voluntary work of dozens of social communicators. They have never included a paid advertisement on their air waves, nor have they asked for a grant from the State. Nevertheless, the project is very much alive. The station is based on a very wide social network which supports it, and on a very intelligent use of new technologies.

This work collates the opinions of European professionals and internet users concerning the changing reality facing the world of journalism following the explosion of digital media. Our research shows the results of analytical surveys conducted between October 2013 and January 2014 among 54 professionals of renowned prestige, and 500 regular users of the digital media in the five most populated countries in the European Union: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, all states affected to a greater or lesser extent by the crisis of the printed press. The surveys cover a wide range of topics, from the impact of social networks, the quality of the digital media, the willingness of citizens to pay for content and the degree of interactivity in the digital media for the future of journalism. Professionals and users agree that the news in 2020 will be better and more interactive than now. With regard to other matters, there is more disagreement. Professionals are much more critical than users when it comes to evaluating the quality of the news. The professionals' survey was more qualitative, and, in their opinion, overcoming the crisis in the written press implies, among other measures, promoting analysis, prioritising quality over quantity and offering "niche" specialisation.

La evaluación de la calidad de las noticias en la prensa vasca, en comparación con la prensa europea de referencia Alazne AIESTARAN Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU

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Introduction. The explosion of new technologies, the progressive implementation of the Internet, the massive use of social networks and the current economic and financial crisis have, along with other factors, provoked a drop in sales of the printed press in the western countries of the planet. This study analyses the evolution of news quality in five European reference newspapers (Financial Times, Corriere della Sera, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde and El País) over a period between 2001 and 2012. Methodology. The research method used in this work has its roots in the concept of media performance developed by Denis McQuail (1992); which allows the use of transversal parameters to evaluate news quality. Results. The results indicate (n=1,137) that the European reference press only just passes the test to which it has been subjected (5.39 out of 10). The average index shows a moderate downtrend which is not applicable to all the papers. Conclusions. All the analysed newspapers appear to have forgotten about the social function which has historically been attributed to journalism as the guardian of citizens' interests. This is reflected in the poor results which all of them obtain in the section "social contribution of the news".