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Criticism in journalism has become a core accountability instrument, especially in recent years, thanks to the Internet and Web 2.0 technology. This paper presents part of an international study of journalism ethics, focusing on Spanish journalists relationship with criticism. The paper analyzes how they express, receive and value criticism, comparing their opinions to those of journalists in the international sample. An online survey was administered to 123 Spanish journalists, from an international sample composed of 1762 professionals. Most Spanish journalists responded that they express criticism “occasionally” or “frequently”, as did their international colleagues. They especially do so through direct communication with colleagues (42.1%), even if with a lower frequency compared to the overall sample, or through online blog comments (38.8%), with a higher frequency compared to the rest of the participants. On the other hand, Spanish journalists claim to have received criticism from their supervisors (90%) and colleagues (86.6%), like the overall sample does. But they report having received a greater number of complaints than the overall sample from regulatory and self-regulatory bodies (e.g.: ombudsman 21.8%), from users/citizens (63.9%), and from the public though social media (52.9%). Finally, Spanish journalists consider the criticism they receive as less fair than does the overall sample, although they rate criticism from audience members as less unfair. The paper suggests that Spanish journalists do not employ peer criticism to the same degree as their international colleagues, but they do strongly associate the idea of transparency and accountability with their audience.

According to diverse reports and studies, islamophobia has become a social threat in the European context. Also, several investigations indicate that Muslim women are the main victims of this type of hostility (gender islamophobia), and stress that the media shows a stereotyped image of Muslim women. This paper aims to the study, from the theory of framing, the media image of Muslim women in the Spanish press. The study focuses on the news related to the controversy arising in 2016 by the prohibition of the burkini in some regions in Europe, and the subsequent reopening of the debate on the prohibition of the integral veil in Germany. For this purpose, a quantitative content analysis has been applied to 152 news items published regarding this issue by the five newspapers with the largest circulation in Spain (El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, El Periódico and ABC). The analysis consists on an exploratory study to identify the news frames following the scale of Semetko and Valkenburg (2000). In addition, an original methodological design has been applied to study the specific frames regarding Muslim women. The results indicate that, in most cases, the media representation of Muslim women focuses on the “victim” and “threat” frames, even though the “victim” frame appears to a greater extent.

In situations of high distress in which social reality and news routines are deeply altered, journalism common practices are challenged by the exceptional circumstances and by the informative needs of the population. This paper faces these challenges through the analysis on how journalists, editors y directors from the four most important television stations in Chile reacted during the coverage of the February 27, 2010 earthquake in that country, one of the biggest in human history. Through in depth interviews analysis, and their systematization, the research proposes a classification of the challenges that journalism faces in coverage of natural disasters in four groups (emotional and psychological effects, logistical difficulties, restricted access to information, and ethical dilemmas) that divides them in specific factors and their respective intervening elements.

The Information society is bringing about an increase in the number of information referents for deaf signers (those who use sign language). With the aim of exploring the ways most commonly used by deaf people to find out about current affairs, this paper summarizes some quantitative research that was carried out involving 138 deaf people: 69 in Spain and 69 in the US. The work is complemented qualitatively by a focus group in Gallaudet University, Washington, using American Sign Language (ASL), and by observations from three lecture/ news presentations which took place in Barcelona in Catalan Sign Language (LSC).

Using a representative survey of Chilean journalists (n= 570) and data collected from each news media organization (n= 114), this paper examines individual and organizational effects on professional role conceptions via hierarchical linear modeling. The findings demonstrate the existence of significant contextual effects on the importance that journalists give to their different functions in society, although not all professional roles are equally affected in form and magnitude by the news media context. This study shows that the journalism’s more political roles are modeled for an interrelation between individual and organizational factors, where journalists’ background and beliefs tend to be more predictive than news media characteristics. In turn, professional functions linked to the need of the public and to the commercialization of news, appeared to be more tied to the structural characteristics of the news organizations where the journalists belong. The results also reveal that individual and organizational political factors predict the majority of the professional roles, while ownership and media type do not have any direct influence on the journalists’ attitudes.