Search

Spain's gradual integration into the European Union through the development of institutions and economic and structural changes is intrinsic to the construction of a pro-European public opinion in which the media have actively participated. Objectives: This research aims to analyse the topics disseminated by the leading Spanish media to detect how the EU is represented in these themes, determine the main, adjacent and counter-discourses and find out the degree of North/South polarisation. Methodology: By content analysis and critical discourse analysis, this paper studies 543 units from the Spanish media El País, El Confidencial, ABC, El Diario.es, RTVE and Antena 3 from July 2021 to March 2022. Discussion and conclusion: Following the methodological application, the results obtained allow us to conclude that the construction of Europeanisation in the Spanish media is constructed about specific issues, and after an in-depth analysis of the energy issue, we can affirm that media coverage is neutral in general terms. Europeanisation is presented from a role with the greater weight of Spain in the common project than in previous historical stages presented in the introduction to this paper. Likewise, there is a certain unanimity in the Spanish media, both in the thematic selection and in the actors who are given a voice in the information, as well as in the pre-European construction of public opinion, regardless of their editorial line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO, hereafter) reported the first case of a new respiratory infection, in the city of Wuhan.This study focuses on how political communication 2.0 has contributed to prevent and protect citizens, during early stages the COVID-19 crisis, in a comparative perspective between USA and Spain. Specifically, the paper focuses during the first 90 days of 2020 (from January 1 to March 31), in the latency phases - oriented to preparedness and prevention- and of crisis outbreak. Methodology: The paper analyzes the content of the messages through the Twitter accounts of Donald Trump -@realdonaldtrump-, the White House -@ WhiteHouse-, and the CDC - @cdcgov; and Pedro Sánchez -@sanchezcastejon-, the Ministry of Health -@sanidadgob-, and the account of the Moncloa -@desdelamoncloa-. By conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results: the findings show a divergent communication strategy. While the Spanish actors followed closely the guidelines of health crisis communication; in the US, only the official accounts of @WhiteHouse y @cdcgov followed those guidelines, while in President Trump´s account, it is observed a politicized communication strategy rejecting messages from public health sources. Conclusions: Political communication is an essential element in a major crisis not only for good governance and management but also for the preparation and awareness of a citizenry. This study shows that the official institutional communication strategy was appropriate in both countries and that it helped to face an unprecedented major health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]