In the Spanish Basque Country there are 6 television stations, 3 popular radio stations with varied programs, 5 newspapers, and pintadas scribbled in every sector defacing almost every other building. The effect of these forms of external public opinion can be measured by taking into consideration and comparing the ritual setting of reception (at home, in a bar), the attention they demand from their audience, and the audience's schedule of engagement (in the morning, during the day, in the evening). In the end, personal opinions regarding the various media as well as their education and language content will reveal that newspapers bear the most influence among the general population. The location of pintadas and their graphic composition, at times including target arrows around names and varying in preponderance and thematic according to the neighborhood and school should not be dismissed. Though the medium with the most explicit content of language education is the newspaper the image of language education is directly affected by the content and location of pintadas. Though I believe pintadas have a significant effect daily inescapable effect on their audience, meassuring their effect would entail a more thorough analysis that lies beyond the scope of this field research.

Of all of these medium, it seems television is the most maligned and the least engaged. In casual conversation on more than one occasion as well as in several classrooms, I recognized a certain pride when people stated that they barely watched tv. Only a handful of students, all of them boys, 5 -10 years of age, stated defiantly and with a sense of bravado that they watched tons of tv, all the time, perhaps as much as 40 hrs a week. These statements were received with horror from classmates as well as the teacher. I have heard criticism of television as an imported hobby, "a vice that is rampant in America but is not part of the culture here." Still, it would be unrealistic to say that television is not watched and a mistake to overlook its effect in public opinion.

The six television stations available with a basic antenna belong to 4 separate broadcasting networks: Television y Radio Española (TVRE), Euskal Irratia eta Telebista (EITB), Antena 3 and Telecinco. At present both TVRE and EITB are perceived to represent the voice of the governments that gave birth to them. Televisión y Radio Española was the first media network and was run by the Spanish State until its privatization in the early 1990's. EITB has a similar history. It was founded in 1980 as a Basque government initiative and is in the process of becoming a private entity, though it is heavily subsidized to compensate its losses. But in general all networks can be described as either national or regional. This geographic distinction reflects both the broadcasting range, the target audience and the news focus. The only regional network is Euskal Irratia eta Telebista.