Barrera, C. (Carlos)

Medina, M. (Mercedes)

Dadun, University of Navarra

 ISSN 2386-7876 – 2018 Communication & Society 31(4), 109-112 109Introduction Thirty Years is Really Something The first issue of Comunicación y Sociedad, today Communication & Society, was published in 1988. It was a dream already outlined in a document entitled “Requirements Plan”, dated May 1976, that came true. It stated that “The purpose of the School was to launch a Journal” (Barrera, 2009, p. 266). In addition, the document described some characteristics that the project should include. The journal was one of the many proposals contained in this ambitious plan. After the approval of the three first faculties of information sciences in Spain, in 1971, a founder member described the plan as “a type of Magna Carta of the School”, created to be the guidelines for the development of the faculties during many years (Gómez Antón, 2002, p. 178). It was a long journey. However, other initiatives were considered priorities. This way, they were implemented earlier, when funding problems did not delay the journal project. In any case, the project was always visualised in the not-too-distant future. The definitive impulse occurred in December 1982. The Board of Directors of the School considered the twenty-fifth anniversary of Journalism Studies at the University of Navarra1 –which was going to be celebrated in 1983– the ideal moment for launching the journal. A six-page report to the vice-chancellor’s office of the University described the approach and basic characteristics of the project. That report highlighted “the present and future importance of collective communication in the world” and also “the disproportion between the social importance of the phenomenon of information and the scarce number of journals –in the world and in Spain– that scientifically took the first manifestations of this phenomenon into account, leaving books to present, more slowly, the most finished and definitive study processes” (Barrera, 2009, p. 266). In Spain, there was only one journal, the Anàlisi Journal, published by the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 1980, with the subtitle Quaderns de Comunicació i Cultura. The aforementioned report concluded that the School already had “enough intellectual potential and call ability, both inside and outside Spain, to face such a difficult and suggestive commitment” (Barrera, 2009, p. 266-267). In fact, a myriad of alumni gatherings had been organised at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. Programmes for Latin American Graduates had been consolidated. The doctoral programme was launched, and, among other activities, specialised seminars for media professionals and managers began to be held. This internal and external growth encouraged us to be optimistic about the viability of the journal, which was called Comunicación y Sociedad. Annual periodicity, which had been considered in 1976, was ruled out, especially because it was not usual in the most prestigious international journals. It was preferred that “the issues contained fewer pages, but were published more frequently.” Along with specific details of format, typeface, and number of pages, economic issues related to printing, binding, circulation, advertising, subscription, and sale prices were also addressed. The potential market was composed of university professors of information sciences from Spain and Latin                                                         1 The Institute of Journalism of the University of Navarra began its activities in 1958. The studies offered were at university level, although they would not be formally recognized until the approval of the Faculties of Information Sciences in 1971 (Barrera, 2002). Special issue C&S 30 anniversary   Mercedes Medina https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1754-6811 mmedina@unav.es Universidad de Navarra   Carlos Barrera https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9771-4074 cbarrera@unav.es Universidad de Navarra   © 2018 Communication & Society ISSN 0214-0039 E ISSN 2386-7876 doi: 10.15581/003.31.4.109-112 www.communication-society.com   2018 – Vol. 31(4) pp. 109-112   How to cite this article: Medina, M. & Barrera, C. (2018). Thirty Years is Really Something. Communication & Society, 31(4), 109-112. Medina, M. & Barrera, C. Thirty Years is Really Something ISSN 2386-7876 – 2018 Communication & Society 31(4), 109-112 110America, former students of the Programmes for Latin American Graduates, Schools of Journalism and Information Sciences from Europe and America, etc. (Barrera, 2009, p. 267). The goal was to reach five hundred subscribers. The gross expenditure of the three planned annual issues would be approximately two million pesetas (about 12,000 Euros). This high cost was precisely the main cause of the delay in the implementation of the project. The human team for the organisation and the structure of the journal issues were already designed in their essential aspects; however, the annual budgets of the School were not enough to cover the growth at the beginning of the 1980s. Finally, in 1986, the School decided to undertake its publications with some modifications. One of them was publishing the journal biannually instead of quarterly in order to reduce costs. In addition, José María Desantes was appointed director and Aires Vaz secretary, who was also the secretary of the School. It was initially established that the language would be English; however, it was soon after decided that the majority of articles would be published in that language. Thus, it seemed that in 1987 the first issue of Communication & Society would finally be launched; however, a last-minute economic setback forced a new delay. There was urgency of reforms in radio studios resulting from the immediate necessity of performing teaching activities. This way, the two million pesetas predicted and already budgeted were destined to that end. Thus, the first issue did not come to light until 1988. As explained in a publication of the University, the journal aimed to “reflect in its pages some of the theoretical studies conducted by teachers from Pamplona and all those Spanish and foreign colleagues that had collaborated for years in teaching activities of the first academic centre, which started journalism studies in the university field of our country” (Redacción, 1988, p. 2). The initial management team of the journal was finally formed by professors José María Desantes as director and José Javier Sánchez Aranda as secretary, in addition to Aires Vaz as manager and Clemente Ferrer Roselló as head of advertising. The editorial board consisted of professors Luka Brajnovic, Manuel Casado, Ángel Faus, Francisco Gómez Antón, Esteban López-Escobar, Alfonso Nieto, María Victoria Romero, Carlos Soria, and Miguel Urabayen. Professor Ricardo Bermejo was responsible for the graphic design, which was modern and innovative for this type of products. A good proof of quality was the fact that the design remained until the last issue printed in 2012. As explained in a brochure designed to promote the journal, “there was a combination of a classic and rigorous typography with a modern layout that facilitated the reading of the texts” (Barrera, 2009, p. 268). It should also be noted that the company Iberduero subsidised the implementation of Communication & Society. According to the established structure of studies, notes, and reviews, that first and long-awaited issue contained three studies, five notes, and six book reviews. Although it was finally decided that the articles should be published in Spanish, the authors of three of the eight articles were foreign researchers. They were the Italian Gianfranco Bettetini (The ordered disorder of mass communication), the German Borys Groys (Power is hold by those who dominate the languages. Languages (related to reproduction, creation, and simulation), and the British Andrew Mango (The news of the world). The other five articles were the studies conducted by professors of the School, namely: Juan José García-Noblejas (Fundamentals for an audiovisual iconography); Francisco Iglesias (Economic impact of advertising: comparative valuation in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television); Daniel Innerarity (Communication and simulation. For a philosophy of computer reason); José Francisco Sánchez (The journalistic themes of Miguel Delibes); and Carlos Soria (The good faith in the informative labour relationship [Commentary to the Judgment of the Constitutional Court of 21st January 1988]). This international character was maintained in the two issues of 1989, with articles written by internationally renowned researchers, such as Eugenio Coseriu, Emmanuel Derieux and Wolfgang Donsbach. Medina, M. & Barrera, C. Thirty Years is Really Something ISSN 2386-7876 – 2018 Communication & Society 31(4), 109-112 111Unsurprisingly, Communication & Society would undergo some changes to achieve its consolidation as a leading journal—especially in the Spanish-speaking world—and, at the same time, reflect the scientific research work that was being carried out in the School or from the School. Thus, some of the papers or communications of the International Days of Communication Sciences –which had been held yearly since 1986– were published for some time. At the beginning of the 21st century, the professionalisation of the journal led to follow the quality criteria usually established for international scientific journals and become a wide-ranging communication journal that accept –from its inception– articles written from various theoretical and empirical perspectives in different subfields of communication. In the second decade of the 21st century, since October 2014, the original name of the journal was changed to Communication & Society. In other words, the name was translated into English, given that the vast majority of the articles were being published in that language. The number of issues published per year increased from two to four. In this last period, the journal has commonly appeared occupying prominent positions within the most recognised international impact indexes. Since 2016, the journal has been managed through the online management system of open journals, and has positioned itself as a leading journal in the international field. “Twenty years is nothing” has become a commonly used expression; however, given the extensive list of authors who have seen their articles published in the journal, we could affirm that thirty years is really something. Perhaps, this is the beginning based on a long-range strategic vision, with an even bigger goal of being at the forefront of research in this exciting scientific field of communication. Certainly, it is a pleasure to celebrate anniversaries and now Communication & Society celebrates its 30th anniversary in the context of the sixty years of the School of Communication at the University of Navarra. On this occasion, we celebrate it with two special numbers. The first consists of renowned names, such as Robert Picard in media economics, McCombs, López-Escobar, and Marita Carballo President-Designate of WAPOR (World Association for Public Opinion Research) in public opinion, Colombo in cultural studies, Fawkes in public relations, and the young scholar Noguera in sharing economy for journalism. These articles will serve as a recent reference to scholars in these fields. They also shed light on the future of research conducted in various fields. The issue also includes recent research on communication from different perspectives, namely: communication research groups in Spain; professional journalistic profiles demanded by the industry; research productivity in Spain; and two topical subjects, one more global, big data in journalism, and another local with the press coverage of the Chilean conflict in the early years of Michelle Bachellet’s presidency. It is worth noting how the growth of our field and its consolidation becomes a pleasure. The second special issue was coordinated by José Fernández-Cavia, who has been member of the editorial board of the journal since 2015, and professor of Advertising at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, with Mihalis Kavaratzis from the University of Leicester, and Nigel Morgan from the Swansea University in the United Kingdom. The title of this special issue is “Place branding. A communication perspective”. The theme is novel –the first publications date back to 2008– but it has gained academic interest in recent years due to the development of the concept of ‘city’. As an editor, I am proud to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this journal, which counts on many prestigious authors and reviewers that have professionally and rigorously contributed to the international recognition of the journal. I cannot but be very grateful to the work of the editors that preceded me. Naming them means paying them homage. I cannot fail to mention the reviewers who do their work with competence and rigor and contribute to the improvement and growth of scientific knowledge. Thanks to them, the magazine is now included in Scopus, and we hope that soon it will be again included in the JCR of Web of Science. Medina, M. & Barrera, C. Thirty Years is Really Something ISSN 2386-7876 – 2018 Communication & Society 31(4), 109-112 112References Barrera. C. (2002). Notas para una historia del Instituto de Periodismo de la Universidad de Navarra (1958-1971). Comunicación y Sociedad, 15(1), 7-38. Barrera, C. (2009). Historia de la Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad de Navarra. Medio siglo de enseñanza e investigación, 1958-2008. Pamplona: Eunsa. Gómez Antón, F. (2002). Desmemorias. Pamplona: Eunsa. Redacción. (1988). June. 

Thirty Years is Really Something

Universidad de Navarra

http://dadun.unav.edu/bitstream/10171/55742/1/A%20%288%29.pdf

Thirty Years is Really Something

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