Educational news and the informative quality in Colombia

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to analyze the informative quality of the educational news in Colombia. The methodological strategy is of the quali-quantitative type, in which a focus group including specialized journalists was carried out with the intention of elaborating an informative quality index on educational topics in Colombia (IQIECol) for its posterior application on a stratified probabilistic sample consistent of 280 educational news published in the main national journals in Colombia during June 2009 and 2010. The proposed index results show a medium development level in the informative quality of the educational news in Colombia, recognizing aspects such as the balanced use of fonts, the contextualization, the linkage to the images and the non existence of violence. Finally, these results are contrasted with other works parameters and it is suggested to improve themes like fonts identification and the clarity in redaction and information presentation.