Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May
(28M) election campaign in the Autonomous Region of Murcia
¿Polarizan los medios? La cobertura mediática en la campaña electoral del 28M
en la Región de Murcia
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
| 43
January-June of 2025
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Melero López, I.; López Palazón, M. I. and Quiles Bailén, M. (2025). Do the media create polarization? e media coverage of the 28 May (28M)
election campaign in the Autonomous Region of Murcia.
Doxa Comunicación
, 40, pp. 43-66.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n40a2188
Inmaculada Melero López.
PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Murcia, with an
Extraordinary Doctorate Award. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Government, Administration and Public Policy from
the same university. Currently, Professor Melero López is serving as Associate Professor in the Department of Political
Science, in addition holding the post of Executive Secretary of the
Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores en
Campañas Electorales
(
ALICE
) [Latin American Association of Researchers for Electoral Campaigns]. She also carries
out research work at the
Centro de Estudios Murciano de Opinión Pública
(
CEMOP
) [Murcian Research Centre for Public
Opinion] and serves as coordinator of the political communication journal known as
Más Poder Local
.
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:
0000-0002-0064-9139
María Isabel López Palazón.
Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Government and Public Administration from the
University of Murcia, with an Extraordinary Award for her capstone project in the academic year 2021-2022. She was also
awarded the Prize for Citizen Participation, Transparency, and Good Governance by the Autonomous Region of Murcia
for the same capstone endeavour, and she holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Political Analysis with a specialisation in
Political Communication as well. Moreover, she has been awarded a position on a programme of pre-doctoral University
Professorial Training
(FPU)
by the Ministry of Universities, which will take place at the University of Murcia. She also
collaborates with the Murcian Research Centre for Public Opinion (
CEMOP
), in addition to serving as a member of the
Editorial Board of
Más Poder Local
.
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0009-0005-8594-4071
María Quiles Bailén.
PhD from Miguel Hernández University of Elche and Jaume I University of Castellón. She is a
member of the research group known as
ECULGE
[Economics, Culture and Gender], under the auspices of Miguel
Hernández University, in addition to being a member of the Murcian Research Centre for Public Opinion (
CEMOP
).
Doctor Quiles Bailén also serves as Head of Training and Documentation of the Public Policy Chair at the University of
Murcia and she works as an Associate Professor on the Bachelor’s Degree of Political Science, Government and Public
Administration at the same university as well.
University of Murcia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:
0000-0002-4931-7784
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License CC BY-NC 4.0
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
44 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
1. Introduction
e media have historically played a fundamental role in the development and consolidation of democracies by providing
citizens with information that is independent of ideological positions (Villafranco Robles, 2005), all of which is combined with the
building of greater trust in institutions (Norris, 2000). In addition to guaranteeing the development of democracies, this situation
has also encouraged audiences to consume media products (Mani and Echeverría, 2019). e guarantee oered by the media
can be seen in the narrative strategies of journalists, which emphasise democracy and essential values such as a commitment to
public service (Cornejo Urbina, 2022).
is research addresses not only the role of the media, but their content as well, referring specically to the possible polarizing
nature of their informative messages. Polarization perceived by audiences can lead to a communication scenario that fosters an
informative oering further away from ideological centre, with more extreme editorial lines (Majó Vázquez and González Bailón,
2022). is situation is exacerbated by a scenario in which ideology, social behaviour, and the perception of reality are usually
subordinated to the power of constructing polarization (Blanco and De la Corte, 2003). ese issues are fundamental pillars that
allow agents such as the media to act as social elites, which have the power to take stances and adopt beliefs that are part of the
dynamic role acquired by newsrooms (Martín Baró, 2003; Villa Gómez
et al
., 2020). In addition, nearly half of Spanish people
(49%) believe that the media are very distant from each other ideologically, having have become agents that have the capability
of fostering political polarization (Vara
et al
., 2022).
Received: 04/01/2024 - Accepted: 02/04/2024 - Early access: 09/05/2024 - Published:
Recibido: 04/01/2024 - Aceptado: 02/04/2024 - En edición: 09/05/2024 - Publicado:
Abstract:
Can media coverage during election campaigns be considered
polarizing? Is the media content we consume neutral, especially
during periods of heightened political activity, or does it
encourage social division into two opposing ideological camps?
In an attempt to answer these questions, the media coverage and
polarizing content of the 2023 Murcia Regional elections were
analysed, specically regarding television broadcasts, including
those of
La 7
and
La 1 of TVE
in its territorial broadcasting, as well
as regional press outlets
La Verdad
and
La Opinión
. By using a
content analysis methodology, the results indicate that the news
disseminated by the media did not appear to transmit signicant
polarization in the Murcia Region during the election campaign
of 28M.
Keywords:
Press; television; election campaign; media; polarization.
Resumen:
¿La cobertura que realizan los medios de comunicación en campaña
electoral puede considerarse polarizante? ¿Son los contenidos mediá
-
ticos que consumimos, sobre todo en periodos de mayor actividad po
-
lítica, neutrales o alientan la división social en dos polos ideológicos
enfrentados? Para tratar de responder a estas cuestiones se analiza la
cobertura de los medios de comunicación y los contenidos polarizantes,
durante el periodo de campaña electoral autonómica de 2023 en la Re
-
gión de Murcia, concretamente la televisión (La 7 y La 1 de TVE en su
emisión territorial) y la prensa regional (La Verdad y La Opinión). A
partir del análisis de contenido como técnica metodológica, los resulta
-
dos apuntan a que la información transmitida por los medios no parece
presentar una polarización destacable en la Región de Murcia durante
la campaña electoral del 28M.
Palabras clave:
Prensa; televisión; campaña electoral; medios de comunicación;
polarización.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 45
is study addresses the media coverage during the 2023 electoral campaign in the Autonomous Region of Murcia. As such, the
aim of the research is to analyse the content of media agendas in the 28M election campaign in the Murcia Region, and whether
the messages broadcast contained polarizing features. Consequently, the research question set forth is the following: With regard
to the content of the media agenda in the 28M election campaign in the Murcia Region, how can it be described?
e media addressed in this paper include television and the digital version of the press. As the quintessential media outlet (De
Casas Moreno
et al
., 2020), television reects a powerful version of reality by combining visual and auditory elds, making it a
channel with great inuence on public opinion. Added to this idea is the agility and simplicity of television language, and the ease
with which viewers can understand the news (Fernández, 2006). On the other hand, the press has been an essential media outlet
for information related to deciding how to vote (Nir and Druckman, 2008). Despite this situation, the pressure for immediacy
and the new informative mechanisms make it necessary to redene productive routines and the development of informative
content based on these information structures (Barrios Rubio and Gutiérrez García, 2022). is means that the new informative
mechanisms are transferring consumption to the digital environment, with the media becoming the agents that respond to these
needs through digitisation of their content, facilitating widespread access to political information (Casero Ripollés, 2016).
1.1. e media as a mobilising agent
e relentless volume of information circulating in the digital ecosystem has an impact on the prestige, trust, and credibility of
traditional media in facing new audiences (Silva Rodríguez
et al
., 2022). Its power lies in the crucial work of building content
that is memorable, extensive, and immersed in narratives (Canel and Sanders, 2005). Exposure to the media can occur through
dierent mechanisms, yet all of them appeal to ideology and semantics, with the aim of inuencing political and governmental
agendas, and ultimately public aairs (Cornejo Urbina, 2022).
However, added to this focus on ideological inuence is the relationship between politics and communication, which not only
has an impact on political governance, but also on the shaping of public opinion and the development of content for mediatised
audiences (Castells, 2009). is set of ideas is reinforced by the work of conrmation and refutation exercised by the media to
cognitively and aectively pose questions based on their pre-existing narratives, which update an already known model of the
world (Aruguete and Calvo, 2023).
When addressing the relationship between the media and the rest of the actors involved, diverse theories that have delved into
the eects of the media must be addressed. e origin of such research dates back to the predominance of what is known as the
direct eect paradigm
, or
magic bullet theory
, which held that “the audience is a passive and malleable entity upon which media
messages would always have an impact” (Igartua and Humanes, 2004: 204). is idea consisted of creating pseudo-events based
on the behaviour of individuals who rejected everything that did not happen in the media (McCombs and Shaw, 1972; McCombs,
2006; Aruguete, 2015). Between the 1940s and 1960s, this tradition was reversed. e theory of media eects that predominated at
the time, or in other words, the well-known
minimal eects hypothesis
, pointed out that the media had almost no eect on public
opinion. During this period, audiences played a key role by selecting the messages to which they wanted to focus their attention,
interpreting them, and nally assimilating them (Ardévol Abreu
et al
., 2020).
46 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
After considerable criticism in the 1950s by authors who rejected the limited power of the media (Lang and Lang, 1955; Cohen,
1963; Semetko, 1995), the
agenda-setting theory
emerged (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). Based on this theory, the authors concluded
that “over time, issues highlighted in the news were eventually considered important by the public” (McCombs, 2006: 29). is
traditional concept is divided into two levels: the rst addresses topic diversity, which is the result of media consumption. us,
the objective of the rst level emphasizes the variety of issues used in the agendas, while the second level of agenda-setting went
a step further and highlighted the aspects, characteristics, or attributes used by the media to describe those issues. As such, the
key was no longer which issue predominated, but how that issue was covered (Crespo and Melero, 2022).
1.2. Content and polarizing rhetoric
One of the inherent features of the media in terms of its role in political control refers to the type of messages transmitted, which
can exert considerable inuence over the citizenry. An example might be the provocation of polarizing feelings when they speak
in a derogatory and aggressive tone about the “others”, who are seen as the enemy of their own audiences (McCombs, 2006).
One pioneering study shows how polarizing semantics have increased in the media, specically on US television since 2016.
To reach this conclusion, they conducted a comparative analysis of two dierent television channels by analysing identical and
politically controversial keywords. Specically, in their on-air language CNN and Fox News were more semantically diverse in
their use of key words such as “racist”, “racism”, “black criminal”, “immigrant”, “immigration”, “climate change”, “global warming”,
and “healthcare” (Ding, Horning and Rho, 2023). Although not the objective of this research, it is highly important to associate
polarizing media content with the use of emotion. Moreover, harmful emotions such as disgust or hatred are the ones that appear
most often in electoral campaigns, an example of which is the elections of the Autonomous Region of Madrid in 2021 (Moret Soler
et al
., 2022), or that of the United States in 2020 (Domínguez García
et al
., 2023).
In Spain, people who are politically informed display a prole that is emotionally active and with a greater presence of
negative emotions. e media act as an interpretative framework of feelings by directly inuencing attitudes, and oering not
only a cognitive approach, but one that is emotional as well (Cazorla
et al
., 2022). In addition, they no longer reect merely
ideological aliation, but they also produce content to increase rejection and victimisation. is is due to the fact that in today’s
communications, polarizing media discourses attract audiences and advertising. Likewise, they construct news to intensify fear
and feed prejudice in their audiences (Waisbord, 2020). In this way, the media end up not only determining the most important
content, but also making positive or negative interpretations of certain topics (Rubio, 2009).
erefore, polarization occurs when the stance of one group implies a negative reference to the viewpoint of another group,
considering it to be a rival. is phenomenon is a dynamic process of social forces in which the approach to one of the standpoints
involves both the distancing and active rejection of the other (Martín, 2003).
Frames involving the media, political discourse, and meaning are all productive instruments for structuring the features of
polarizing narratives during electoral campaigns (Muñiz
et al
., 2022). Among the variety of frames that exist, that of conict,
which dates back to Neuman, Just and Crigler (1992), is crucial for analysing the strategies used by political leaders in their
discourse, and for examining the adaptation of this discourse to media coverage. ese frames refer to conicting interests that
have a detrimental eect on citizens, as they tend to focus on negativity and on the qualities of other leaders, parties, groups or
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 47
institutions (Semetko and Valkenburg, 2000). is framing has been the object of various studies involving inductive approaches,
as in the case of Lind and Salo (2002). rough content analysis, these authors identied six frames associated with the media
coverage of feminism.
Along with polarization, other concepts such as negativity in the media itself can be triggers for a greater or lesser amount of
polarizing content in the media. Lengauer
et al
. (2011) propose ve features that determine the degree of negativity of a news item:
tone, coniction, incapability, depiction, and pessimism. Moreover, other issues such as the lack of security, immigration, and the
inner workings of democracy tend to be treated with higher levels of negativity due to their inherent features of polarization and
social confrontation (Esser
et al
., 2016). Finally, numerous studies have argued that the characteristics of a particular media outlet
can determine its level of negativity (Takens
et al
., 2013).
In the present study, the following frames have been identied, which are related to the previously mentioned frame of
conict
:
the presence of sharp criticism; the use of insulting language; mentioning the danger of actions taken; comments about changing
the rules of the game; irresponsible and contradictory attitudes of the actors; protagonist vs. adversary; juxtaposed stances; use of
competitive terms; using warfare language; and describing the opponent using negative terms. As mentioned above, along with
the frames used for the present analysis, negativity complements the measurement of polarization in media content.
2. Methodologies and data
With the aim of analysing the content of media agendas in the 28M election campaign in the Murcia Region, and discovering
whether the messages issued contain polarizing features, diverse media such as the press and television were consulted during
the campaign, which ran from 12-16 May, 2023.
Likewise, the following research question is posed: How can the content that comprises the media agenda in the election
campaign of 28 May in the Murcia Region be described?
With regard to the press, the newspapers analysed were the digital versions of
La Verdad
and
La Opinión
as they are the two
media with the highest volume of political content at the regional level, according to the General Media Study (Avante, 2023).
e units of analysis were drawn from each newspaper’s editorials, opinion articles, and news items related to the subject in
question. In the coding, the order used was the title of the article, subtitle, and the text. Given that media content in digital format
is modied and altered up to three times during the course of one day, the compilation of the analysis units was carried out each
day in the early hours of the morning.
In the case of television, the news programmes of
La 7
and
La 1
of
TVE
were analysed. Television viewing increased by 1.74% in
2022 compared to 2021, even surpassing news consumed through the Internet (Avante, 2023). Coding the units was carried out
from the beginning to the end of the journalistic coverage, so when the topic changed, the analysis of a new unit began. Given
the characteristics of the media, both the presentation of the news item by the journalist and the subsequent images detailing
the news item in the same unit were analysed. e analysis content consisted of news items that addressed political issues, with
priority given to the topics included in the initial rundown of the newscast. e news programmes analysed were
Noticias Edición
Mediodía
of
La 7
, and
Noticias Murcia
of
La 1
-
TVE
, both of which aired at 2 p.m.
48 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
For the treatment of the compiled data, a content analysis was used as the research technique to examine the media. is method
is considered a systematic, objective, and quantitative way to analyse the characteristics of a message (Neuendorf, 2002), by
taking a purely descriptive approach. Moreover, this technique enables valid inferences to be drawn, reproduced, and applied to
a given context. e purpose of this tool is to provide knowledge and concordance in the eld of communication (Krippendor,
1997). Likewise, evaluation and coding must be uniform and analysed by using the same criteria (Igartua and Humanes, 2004;
Piñuel Raigada, 2002).
To analyse the polarizing content in the media, variables linked to agenda-setting have been used to reveal the main topics
(McCombs, 2006), in addition to a series of concepts related to negativity in the media. is negativity is linked to the electoral
system in which the metaphors of war, competition, and the perception of candidates and polls, among other factors, become
overly important (Cappella and Jamieson, 1997). Its measurement is made possible by analysing information that is positive,
negative or neutral, for the purpose of determining the degree of negativity (Soroka and McAdams, 2015) and polarization (Robles
et al
., 2022) that is most common in media content.
e variables used to monitor media coverage, polarization and negativity in the media are as follows:
Table 1. Analysis variables
Identication variables
News date
XX/XX/XXXX
Media typeTelevision or the press.
Name of the media analysed
La 7
,
La 1 of TVE
,
La Verdad
and
La Opinión
.
Topic content variables
Main topic
is enables identication of the predominant topics in the
agendas, i.e., it covers the rst level of the agenda-setting
(McCombs and Shaw, 1972).
Subtopics
A series of specic subtopics is broken down from each main topic.
Variables of political polarization in the media
Presence of sharp criticism
Contains a direct and specic attack on a well-known political
leader or party, it is also coded according to which actor is the
target of the attack.
Presence of journalists’ opinions
Contains opinions of the journalists who report the news on an
issue.
Perception of rigor
e consumer perceives that it is presented in a rigorous, truthful,
and ethical manner without indicating any opinion about the issue.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 49
Tone
Addresses the emotional dimension of the second level of agenda-
setting (positive, negative, or neutral) (McCombs, 2006).
Presence of insulting language
Insulting or oensive terms are used to address other political
actors –coded dichotomously (yes or no).
Mentioning the danger of actions taken
A political actor, or the actions carried out by such a person, might
pose a danger to society.
Comments about changing the rules of the game
is refers to possibly changing of the rules of the game for the
actor’s or political party’s own benet based on ideological
interests.
Irresponsible and contradictory attitudes of the actors
e attitude of a leader or political actor is irresponsible or
illegitimate with regard to the prevailing values and principles of
the society. is variable is coded dichotomously (yes or no).
Protagonist vs. adversary
ere is a verbal attack by one actor or party against another with
the aim of highlighting the dierences between the two.
Juxtaposed stances
is is appraised if large groups are created that are far apart on the
issue being analysed, and if allusions are made to terms that put
distance between the groups. Coded dichotomously (yes or no).
Use of competitive terms
Nouns, adjectives, or verbs that denote competitiveness and
conict are used. Coded dichotomously (yes or no).
Using warfare language
Terms linked to the eld of war, such as battle, combat, weapons,
etc. is variable is coded dichotomously (yes or no).
Describing the opponent using negative terms
An actor or political party is identied using negative terms that
foments rejection, which can be interpreted as an insult. Coded
dichotomously (yes or no).
Source: created by the authors
As previously mentioned, the media analysed are those that have a larger audience at the regional level. Apart from having a
regional scope, the two daily newspapers consulted, which include
La Verdad
of the Vocento Group, and
La Opinión
of the
Prensa Ibérica Group, also have higher readership compared to other media in the Murcia Region. In the case of television,
La 7
is the regional public television channel of Murcia, while
La 1
(of RTVE) is a national public television channel, whose analysed
programme is part of its daily regional coverage (Avante, 2023).
Based on the aforementioned criteria and variables, the units of analysis collected are as follows:
50 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Table 2. Analysis units
Number%
Digital press
La Opinión
5751.4%
La Verdad
5448.6%
Total (press)
111100%
Television
La 7
8264.1%
La 1
4635.9%
Total (television)
128100%
Source: created by the authors
Coding the analysis units was carried out by a team of four researchers by using the previously mentioned codebook. Excel was
employed as the data collection tool. Afterward, the IBM SPSS Statistics 28 programme was used to analyse the information.
Regarding the reliability coecient, two collaborators from the Public Policy Chair of the University of Murcia calculated the
intercoder reliability based on re-coding 12% of the total sample. e results obtained using the Holsti method indicated that the
results were reliable (.72).
2.1. e political context of 28M in the Murcia Region
On 28 May, 2023, municipal and regional elections were held in the Autonomous Region of Murcia in Spain. With only 45 seats,
the Murcia Regional Assembly is the fourth smallest regional parliament in Spain. e only ones that are smaller include Castilla-
La Mancha, La Rioja, and Cantabria, with the same number of seats as the Principality of Asturias (García Escribano, 2015).
e scenario faced by the inhabitants of the Murcia Region in electing representatives in its XI Legislature resulted from a failed
attempt at a motion of censure in 2021. At that time,
Ciudadanos
severed its relationship with the
Partido Popular
(
PP
), with
whom it had shared power in the regional government, and presented a motion of censure together with the
Partido Socialista
Obrero Español
(
PSOE)
, which eventually failed (Caballero, 2023). Various political parties were nominated for the regional
elections. e most prominent, due to their previous representation in the Regional Assembly, were the following:
Partido
Popular
(
PP
), with candidate Fernando López Miras;
Partido Socialista de la Región de Murcia
(
PSRM
), whose candidate was
José Vélez;
Ciudadanos
, with candidate María José Ros;
VOX
, with José Ángel Antelo; and
Unidas Podemos
, with María Marín.
is miscellany of actors occurred despite the fact that over the years, the Murcia Region has had several presidents, all from
the
Partido Popular
, which has been governing the Region continuously since 1995, either with absolute majorities or through
political alliances.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 51
According to pre-election polls carried out by CEMOP, 2023, the expected winner was
Partido Popular
(
PP
) with an estimated
28.8% of the votes and 22 seats
1
, close to an absolute majority of 23, with a candidate who had already served as president of the
Region. is meant that he had an advantage over his adversaries. Second place was expected to be taken by
PSRM
(16.4%), with
an estimated 12-13 seats, and third place was envisioned for
VOX
(12.4%), which was forecast to obtain between eight and nine
representatives. Further behind were
Unidas Podemos
(4.3%) and
Ciudadanos
(1.3%), the latter of which was excluded from the
Regional Assembly of Murcia, as the minimum for these elections was 3%.
3. Results
3.1. Analysis of the media content in relation to issues
To analyse the media coverage of the 28M campaign in the Murcia Region, the main topics were compiled in order to reveal the
leading issues in the two weeks prior to the elections.
Graph 1. Principal media topics in the 28M elections (%)
Source: created by the authors
52 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Both in the press and on television, the most frequently covered topics were political parties, followed by social policy, healthcare,
and the
Mar Menor
2
crisis. In evaluating the dierences between both media, it has been observed that all the issues mentioned
have a greater presence in the press than on television, except for healthcare, which stands out on television, yet with only slight
dierences between both media. Moreover, issues such as the economy, transportation, and communication are more prominent
on television news. In general, there is a predominance of topics with an ideological component, also known as public policy
issues (Mazzoleni, 2010), which are typical of campaign periods and aim to highlight the main problems of citizens and the
solutions or proposals of each candidate.
To reveal the specic features of each topic, details were provided regarding the subtopics, and although they were connected to
the main topics, they were intended to oer more detailed information on the issues highlighted by the regional media during
the campaign.
Table 3. e main subtopics of the media in the 28M elections (%)
PressTelevisionTotal
Campaign events
10.811.711.3
e so-called “sucient majority” of López Miras
14.43.98.8
Election debates
12.62.37.1
Election forecasts
6.36.36.3
Transportation and communication in cities and
towns
2.78.65.9
Housing4.56.35.4
e
Mar Menor
crisis: solutions and accountability
6.33.95
Lowering taxes for the middle class
073.8
e closing of the
Tajo-Segura
water pipeline: solu
-
tions and accountability
1.84.73.3
Hospital waiting lists
1.84.73.3
2
When social policy and healthcare issues are addressed, reference is made to public services related to education, dependency, social services, healthcare, and
others, yet when comments are made about the
Mar Menor
situation, these denote content associated with the preservation and recovery of this natural resource
of the Murcia Region. e
Mar Menor
is the largest saltwater lagoon in Europe, which for some years has been suering ecological deterioration as a result of
pollution, agricultural exploitation,
DANAS
, and tourism, among many other casuistries identied by experts. Given the characteristics of this natural asset, it
is protected under the auspices of both regional and national governments, and its maintenance, recovery, improvement, and management was one of the key
issues in the 28M election campaign in the Murcia Region.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 53
Sports2.73.12.9
Assistance for disadvantaged people and families
3.61.62.5
Budget of the Ministry of Education
1.8
2.3
2.1
Accusations of vote-buying
1.81.61.7
Others293230.6
Total
100100100
Source: created by the authors
Contrary to what occurs in the main topics, the subtopics have a predominance of content related to the campaign. is typology
refers to messages associated with campaign organisation and other strategies that end up becoming news. Based on this
classication, there are also political topics, or in other words, issues related to the political-electoral situation and the ideological
viewpoints of the candidates and parties. One example is the subtopic related to the “sucient majority” of López Miras, which
refers to the minimum number of votes that would allow him to govern alone without the support of other political parties, in
this case
VOX
. is topic, together with the issue of electoral debates, is more prominent in the press than on television, as this
type of content is often more prevalent in opinion articles or in the reections of journalists covering the news. Along with these
topics, campaign events and election forecasts are part of the typology of political and electoral campaign issues, which stand out
contextually during election campaigns.
Regarding the actors or protagonists of the media news, it has been observed that the most frequently mentioned are the
candidates for President of the Murcia Regional Government. In other words, Fernando López Miras (
PP
) heads the list with a
20.9% presence in the units analysed; in second place is José Vélez (
PSRM
) with 16.7%; next is María José Ros (
Ciudadanos
) at
10%; José Ángel Antelo (
VOX
) has 8.4%; and María Marín (
Unidas Podemos
) has 6.7%.
e scarce presence of national leaders indicates that the media campaign focused mainly on the top regional candidates and
their parties, contrasting the leadership and personalisation exercised by party representatives in regional politics (Laguna
Platero, 2011). In the case of the Murcia Region, the main protagonist was Fernando López Miras, who was the regional president
at the time. As a result, the media, and especially television, tend to oer more expanded coverage of these leaders’ messages
(Rodríguez Virgili
et al
., 2014). is increase in content, together with the personalisation of the leaders, not only encompasses
the President of the Autonomous Region of Murcia, but also the candidates who have greater representation in their chambers,
which is the case of José Vélez. e rest of the candidates, despite being among the most prominent with regard to parties, national
leaders, associations, institutions and companies, are unable to achieve a level of inuence similar to that of the two candidates
who belong to the parties with the greatest representation, which are the
PP
and
PSRM
in the Murcia Region.
54 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
3.2. Analysis of political polarization in the media
e presence of verbal attacks during election campaigns is one of the variables that has allowed the authors to study negativity
and polarization in the media, as media outlets are crucial sources of information during campaign periods. Moreover, citizens’
dependence on the media tends to increase during such periods in order to satisfy their information needs (Muñiz, 2022; Bjarnøe
et al
., 2020). Consequently, if the messages of the media shift toward conict, citizens will perceive it as such, and this could
generate a certain level of political polarization and rejection of the opponent, among other aftereects. Although analysing
the inuence of the media on individuals would involve a broader examination not addressed in this paper, the authors of the
present study have explored the discursive tools used by the media to cover confrontational messages that might have an impact
on citizens.
Table 4. e presence of verbal attacks in the media analysed during the campaign (%)
PressTelevision
La OpiniónLa VerdadLa 7La 1
None35.131.553.756.5
Yes, against Fernando López Miras
21.133.311.06.5
Yes, against Pepe Vélez
1.83.70.00.0
Yes, against José Ángel Antelo
0.01.90.00.0
Yes, against María Marín
7.03.70.00.0
Yes, against the Autonomous Region of Murcia
(
CARM
), or Murcia Regional Government
7.05.612.28.7
Yes, against the
PP
5.37.44.910.9
Yes, against the
PSOE
1.81.92.40.0
Yes, against
VOX
0.00.00.00.0
Yes, against
Ciudadanos
1.80.00.00.0
Yes, against
Unidas Podemos
0.01.90.00.0
Yes, against the Spanish National Government
12.17.29.710.9
Yes, against another actor or entity
7.01.96.16.5
Total100100100100
Source: created by the authors
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 55
In 28M campaign in the Murcia Region, the highest percentages can be found in the category of
none
with regard to verbal attacks.
is indicates that a signicant percentage of the media’s coverage did not include any verbal attacks, especially on television,
where more than half of the news on
La 7
and La
1
do not use this media strategy to generate political polarization in their
content. is percentage is lower in the case of the press, as more verbal attacks were detected in this medium, the vast majority
of which were directed at the president of the regional government, Fernando López Miras. Specically,
La Verdad
published a
higher number of attacks on the regional president, as this outlet was more critical of the
PP
candidate than the rest of the media
analysed. Sharp verbal attacks on both the regional and national governments of Spain also stand out
3
.
An example of this kind of attack on leaders and institutions was made against Fernando López Miras in an opinion article in
La
Opinión
, which read, “e PP, led by López Miras, lacks identity and ambition in this campaign. e governing parties cannot
resolve the election situation through populist measures and by correcting their adversaries. Inuential politicians must be
knowledgeable about how to foresee what they call the framework, and they must establish a model for the Murcia Region that
involves a true majority, not just ‘the sucient majority’ to continue doing things the same way as always”.
Table 5. e presence of the journalists’ opinions in the media analysed (%)
Digital press
Television
La OpiniónLa VerdadLa 7La 1
None54.475.995.1100.0
Yes. ey make a joke, wisecrack or humorous comments
5.33.70.00.0
Yes. ey appear serious
3.51.91.20.0
Yes. ey show concern
3.53.72.40.0
Yes. ey display doubtfulness
3.51.90.00.0
Yes. ey clearly express their opinion
29.813.01.20.0
Total100100100100
Source: created by the authors
Objectivity has always been one of the pillars of journalism. e construction of frames and the use of framing to transmit real
life situations is one of the main premises that distinguishes the personal opinion of journalists from factual news (Sádaba, 2008).
In the case at hand, it can be observed that in all the units analysed from
La 1
, and in 95.1% of those of
La 7
, the objectivity of
journalists has been defended to the utmost. e percentage is also high for the digital press, with
La Verdad
standing out at the
rate of nearly 76% of the units analysed, and 54.4% for
La Opinión
. As such, the research data indicate that
La Opinión
is the
newspaper that displays its opinion the most at 29.8%. A possible explanation for this tendency is that the verbal attacks directed
56 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
at Fernando López Miras could be a strategy orchestrated by
La Opinión
itself. us, it appears that
La Opinión
took a more
critical stance toward the Regional Government than the rest of the media analysed.
An example of such criticism, based on analysing the results of an election survey of this media, is the following comment: “e
only option for regional government has a name of its own, Fernando López Miras, who has within his reach
the ‘sucient’ or
‘required’ majority,
to which the
PP
has incessantly made reference during this election campaign”.
Table 6. e presence in the media analysed of danger regarding actions taken (%)
Digital press
Television
La OpiniónLa VerdadLa 7La 1
None59.657.453.760.9
Yes, regarding the economy of the Murcia
Region
7.07.415.923.9
Yes, regarding the economic well-being of
individuals (employment, housing, income, etc.)
3.53.715.98.7
Yes, in relation to governmental stability
7.05.63.72.2
Yes, in relation to democracy and liberties
1.89.38.54.3
Yes, regarding the rights of certain groups
(women, LGTBIQ+, ethnic minorities, etc.)
0.00.01.20.0
Yes, regarding the region’s image abroad
0.01.90.00.0
Yes, regarding other issues
21.114.81.20.0
Total100100100100
Source: created by the authors
As for mentions regarding the danger of actions taken, referring to whether political actors or their actions might pose a danger
to society, there were hardly any comments regarding this issue. However, when such mentions do occur, they appear mainly on
television, along with allusions to the risk for the economy of the Autonomous Region of Murcia and the economic well-being
of its residents. As the media coverage analysed does not point out political dierences, it does generate negativity and political
polarization through its content.
One example of comments about the danger to democracy and freedom from taking action has been seen in
La Verdad
, when the
second in line for the regional candidacy of the
Podemos-IU-Alianza Verde
coalition, Víctor Egío, made the following statement
in a public interview: “e lack of support from the regional government has forced public higher education centres to reduce the
number of available spaces for degree programmes and lay o professors”.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 57
Table 7. Comments about changing the rules of the game in the media analysed (%)
Digital press
Television
La OpiniónLa VerdadLa 7La 1
None80.777.891.593.5
Yes, changes regarding parliamentary or decision-
making rules
1.85.600
Yes, changes to election rules
14132.42.2
Yes, changes to regional government operations and
legal procedures
01.94.92.2
Yes, changes to rules related to transparency
1.81.900
Yes, changes to other rules are mentioned
1.801.22.2
Total100100100100
Source: created by the authors
e data reveal a considerable lack of mentions in the media with regard to changing the rules of the game, especially on television,
where more than 90% of the units show no evidence of this type of content. However, the press highlights changes to election
rules, which might be linked not only to the coverage carried out by the journalists themselves, but also to the importance of
opinion articles written by their colleagues in newsrooms.
One of the most controversial cases during the election campaign was
Podemos
candidate María Marín’s refusal to share half
of her time in the debate with Helena Vidal of the party known as
Más Región-Verdes Equo
, as ruled by the Electoral Board after
the joint candidacy of both parties was presented for the 2019 regional elections. In this case, changes to the rules of the game
were reected as follows: “e debate started as planned, and everything was proceeding as usual until the moment arrived
when María Marín had to leave the lectern and hand it over to Helena Vidal. In what was supposed to be the end of her turn, e
Podemos-IU-Alianza Verde
candidate refused to leave the stage, claiming that it seemed “unfair”, and making it clear that “if you
want me to leave, you will have to kick me out”.
58 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Table 8. Confrontational stances of protagonists vs. adversaries in the media analysed (%)
Digital press
Television
La OpiniónLa VerdadLa 7La 1
None49.148.153.756.5
Yes,
PP
vs.
PSOE
21.127.825.621.7
Yes,
PP
vs.
Unidas Podemos
1.85.64.92.2
Yes,
PSOE
vs.
VOX
0.00.02.40.0
Yes,
VOX
vs.
Unidas Podemos
0.00.00.00.0
Yes,
PP
vs.
VOX
15.85.63.70.0
Yes,
Unidas Podemos
vs.
PSOE
1.83.70.00.0
Yes, other combinations of discord
10.59.39.819.6
Total100100100100
Source: created by the authors
Along the same lines, there is a certain presence of confrontational stances between protagonists and adversaries. In this case, the
opposing viewpoints are linked, on the one hand, to the two parties with the highest number of representatives in the Regional
Assembly (
PP
vs.
PSOE
) and, on the other hand, to the two right-wing parties with a greater chance of governing in coalition
according to electoral forecasts (
PP
vs.
VOX
). One explanation for the use of this strategy by the media is to generate opposing
and more competitive arenas among the leaders. Regarding the Murcia Region, the polls indicated that the
PP
,
PSRM
and
VOX
were essential in forming a government, especially the
PP
and
VOX
, given that both parties in coalition could exceed the absolute
majority. Nevertheless, we cannot leave aside the fact that the
PSRM
is the main opposition party, in addition to being a pillar of
regional partisanship.
Television was one of the media that maintained the strategy of confrontation between the
PP
and
PSOE
, an example of which
is
La 7’
s coverage of the day after the election debate, highlighted by accusations between the leaders of both parties, Fernando
López Miras (PP) and José Vélez (PSOE), as they accused each other of implementing policies that did not result in a reduction in
unemployment compared to the national average.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 59
Table 9. Dichotomous variables of polarization in the newspapers of the media analysed (%)
Digital press
Television
Perception of rigour
No13.52.3
Yes86.597.7
Presence of insulting language
No90.193.0
Yes9.97.0
Irresponsible attitudes
No82.061.7
Yes18.038.3
Juxtaposed stances
No81.159.4
Yes18.940.6
Use of competitive terms
No73.078.9
Yes27.021.1
Use of warfare language
No78.485.9
Yes21.614.1
Describing the opponent using negative terms
No96.488.3
Yes3.611.7
Source: created by the authors
e last variables analysed for the purpose of verifying the degree of political polarization that the media are capable of generating
in the Region are linked to the use of terms and frames in their media discourse. In general, the data continue to show that the
media did not play an important role in the construction of polarizing news, although it has been observed that certain data make
a distinction between press and television coverage. Media comments regarding irresponsible attitudes stand out on television
(38.3%), compared to those of the press (18%). e same situation occurs with the juxtaposed stances, where television once
again is considerably more prolic in creating confrontational frames (40.6%) compared to the press (18.9%).
60 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
3.3. Which issues, actors and media are more polarizing?
e results indicate that the vast majority of issues have been addressed using a neutral tone, which ensures impartial news
coverage. Only in topics related to election campaigns, such as political parties and the events and acts they organise to obtain
votes, is there a greater presence of insulting, competitive, and warlike language, as well as the use of negative adjectives to
describe the adversary, as well as irresponsible attitudes and juxtaposed stances to distinguish oneself from the opponents.
Among the media analysed, the tone is mostly neutral in both the press (67.6%) and television (91.4%), and when the tone is
perceived as negative (27%), the press is more prominent in this regard. is is related to the formidable objectivity perceived
in the treatment of information, as there are hardly any cases in which journalists’ opinions are presented. Among the press,
La
Opinión
stands out for its use of a negative tone (33.3%) compared to
La Verdad
(20.4%). e opposite occurs with the neutral
tone, where
La Verdad
(72.2%) uses it more than
La Opinión
(63.2%). e same situation takes place on television, where all the
units of
La 1
are neutral, and about 87% of the news of
La 7
also use this tone. In fact, television could be considered the most
neutral medium.
Table 10. Association between the presidential candidates of the regional government and the variables of
polarization in the media analysed (%)
Fernando
López Miras
José Vélez
José Ángel
Antelo
María Marín
María José
Ros
Total units
Perception of rigour
Yes8810010087.5100142
No120012.508
Presence of insulting
language
Yes122.52012.58.315
No8897.58087.5220135
Irresponsible attitudes
Yes2037.55556.312.348
No8062.54543.887.5102
Juxtaposed stances
Yes26357037.520.852
No74653062.579.298
Use of competitive
language
Yes2817.56031.3038
No7282.54068.8100112
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 61
Using warlike terms
Yes142.570258.328
No8697.5307591.7122
Describing the opponent
using negative terms
Yes0
0
500
4.2
11
No1001005010095.8139
Source: created by the authors
Note: the nal column of total units represents the sum of yes and no responses for each of the variables. us, the total number of units for
each of the variables is 150.
One datum that stands out, which is indicated by the dichotomous variables that measure negativity and polarization of the
media and the candidates, is the prevalence of irresponsible attitudes with regard to María Marín and José Ángel Antelo. In the
case of María Marín, it may be due to the cancellation of the only electoral debate among candidates for the Presidency of the
Region of Murcia, for refusing to share her time with the candidate of
Más Región Equo
. Regarding José Ángel Antelo, it could be
the result of his diverse and conicting speeches and proposals, which altered the course of the campaign.
At the same time, the candidates from
Unidas Podemos
and
VOX
are the ones who appeal more to juxtaposed stances, competitive
terms, and warfare language. us, the data suggest that the media coverage of the candidates located at the extremes of the
political spectrum in the Murcia Region show more distancing and, as a result, more negativity and discursive polarization
compared to the rest of the media. Nevertheless, this investigation is a descriptive media study, and to bring this idea to a
conclusion, it would be necessary to carry out quantitative research in order to conrm the assertion.
4. Discussion and conclusions
In reviewing the research question and objectives of this study, in addition to examining the polarizing messages, the aim is to
explain the nature of the media content in the electoral campaign of 28 March in the Autonomous Region of Murcia. e study
concludes that the media analysed did not generally display negative content with polarizing features during the campaign.
Despite the fact that emotional polarization in the Murcia Region is generally 10 points higher than the national average (Crespo
and Mora, 2021), the data seem to indicate that such polarization is not necessarily due to the news coverage or campaign
messages transmitted by the media. Furthermore, the results suggest that the tone with which the news is covered on television
is almost entirely neutral (91.4%), compared to the press (67.6%). ese data appear to indicate that emotional polarization
predates the consumption of media content by citizens who obtain political information through these media. Consequently,
the negative tone is higher in the press at 27%, while television barely reaches 7.8%. e main contribution of this research is the
verication that media content is neither negative nor polarizing.
is conclusion is signicant, as it highlights the fact that digital media covering the Murcia Region safeguard their principles of
objectivity in the construction of frames that depict real world events (Sádaba, 2008), contrary to other regional studies, which
have analysed newspaper coverage on digital platforms and, in one specic case, the content was mostly negative (Córdoba
62 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Cabús
et al
., 2021). us, the present research clearly shows the importance of considering the unique aspects of each context,
due to the fact that the media agenda is one of the most important factors to consider, together with the preferences of the public,
which in turn are inuenced by the wide diversity of existing media and the respective content that they transmit to the public.
Cases in which negative content has been observed is related to the candidates at the ideological extremes of the Region, who
belong to
VOX
and
Unidas Podemos
. Only in these two cases have negative terms been observed, which show a certain amount of
confrontation between the leaders of both parties. As a result, a new communicative strategy of these parties has been revealed,
which might be an attempt to highlight ideological dierences in a more aggressive way in order to mobilise their voter base and
clearly dierentiate themselves from their political opponents.
In a study similar to the one at hand, Berganza Conde
et al
. (2016) concluded that media coverage in Spain regarding political
news is not completely negative. Instead, such content generally uses a neutral frame, and its average level of negativity is
considerably lower than other European countries such as Portugal and Austria. Furthermore, the presence of negativity is
also related to topics that are more prevalent in the study herein, or in other words, to issues related to electoral campaigns,
such as events, ceremonies, political party activities, etc. As pointed out by Domínguez García
et al
. (2023), after analysing the
US campaign and the strategies used by each of the candidates, they conclude that Biden’s strategic frames in which the main
content focused on building a narrative based on political priorities such as health, education, and public policy management,
have a more transversal nature. is study reaches a similar conclusion. In other words, the data suggest that more cross-cutting
topics tend to result in less polarizing messages, as they address issues that are relevant and applicable to a broad spectrum of the
population, which reduces the inclination to generate division. Added to this idea is the fact that the vast majority of the issues
are regional in nature, with hardly any reference to matters of a national scope, yet regional elections are generally dominated by
content that refers to national concerns (Zugasti Azagra and García Ortega, 2018; Rivas de Roca, 2021).
Although this research oers a specic case study at the regional level, the results can be extrapolated to the national media for
the purpose of conrming whether their content is negative and polarizing during election campaigns. However, the nature of
the present analysis limits the conclusions to a media discourse based on a specic selection of media, which does not allow the
results to be generally applied. For future research, in addition to increasing the size of the sample, another recommendation is
to select media that are more diverse, and to compare the mainstream media in dierent contexts in order to conrm whether
the same dynamics are replicated. Finally, in order to study the impact of a negative and polarizing narrative on public opinion,
subsequent studies are recommended that focus on the construction of polarizing opinion as a consequence of media coverage.
5. Acknowledgments
is article has been translated into English by Charles E. Arthur, to whom we are grateful for his meticulous work.
is study was made possible by funding provided by the Autonomous Region of Murcia, through a call for project grants that
focus on the development of scientic and technical research by competitive groups, under the auspices of the
Programa
Regional de Fomento de la Investigación Cientíca y Técnica de Excelencia
(
Plan de Acción 2022
) [Regional Programme for the
Promotion of Scientic and Technical Research of Excellence] [Action Plan 2022], as part of the
Fundación Séneca,
Agencia de
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 63
Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia
[the Seneca Foundation, Science and Technology Agency of the Autonomous Region
of Murcia] Ref: 21876/PI/2022.
6. Specic contributions of each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the work
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and
María Quiles Bailén
Methodology
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and
María Quiles Bailén
Data collection and analysis
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and
María Quiles Bailén
Discussion and conclusions
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and
María Quiles Bailén
Drafting, formatting, version review and approval
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and
María Quiles Bailén
7. Conict of interest
e authors declare that there is no conict of interest contained in this article.
8. Bibliographic references
Ardèvol Abreu, A., Gil de Zúñiga, H. y McCombs, M. (2020). Orígenes y desarrollo de la teoría de la agenda setting en Comunicación.
Tendencias en España (2014-2019).
Profesional de la información, 29
(4), 1-23.
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.jul.14
Aruguete, N. (2015).
El poder de la agenda. Política, medios y público.
Editorial Biblios.
Aruguete, N. y Calvo, E. (2023).
Nosotros contra ellos. Cómo trabajan las redes para conrmar nuestras creencias y rechazar las de
los otros
. Siglo veintiuno.
Avante (2023). Estudio General de Medios de la Regi
ó
n de Murcia.
https://avantemedios.com/
Barrios Rubio, A. y Guti
é
rrez Garc
í
a, M. (2022). Comunicaci
ó
n medi
á
tica y social en el entorno de crisis, polarizaci
ó
n e
inconformismo colombiano.
Profesional de la información, 31
(3), 1-19.
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.may.20
Berganza Conde, M. R., Arcila Calderón C. y Miguel Pascual, R. (2016). La negatividad en las informaciones políticas de los medios
españoles.
Revista Latina de Comunicación Social,
71
, 160-178.
https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1089
Bjarnø
e, C., de Vreese, C. H. y Alb
æ
k, E. (2020). e eect of being conict non-avoidant: linking conict framing and political
participation.
West European Politics,
43
(1), 102-128.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2019.1572334
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
64 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Blanco, A. y De la Corte, L. (2003). Psicolog
í
a social de la violencia: introducci
ó
n a la perspectiva de Ignacio Mart
ín-Baró
.
Poder,
violencia e ideología,
9-62.
Caballero, A. (20 mayo 2023)
Las claves de las elecciones en la Región de Murcia: el PP deende un bastión que gobierna desde hace
30 años. RTVE.
https://acortar.link/Jd5ha2
Canel, M. J. y Sanders, K. (2005). El poder de los medios en los esc
á
ndalos pol
í
ticos: la fuerza simb
ó
lica de la noticia icono,
Analisi, 32,
163-178.
https://acortar.link/Mdbz9L
Casero Ripoll
é
s. A. (2016) La honda de David: internet, periodismo, democracia y participaci
ó
n ciudadana. En A. Casero Ripoll
é
s
(Ed.),
Periodismo y democracia en el entorno digital
[Journalism and democracy in the digital environment]. Sociedad Espa
ñ
ola
Periodí
stica (SEP).
Castells, M. (2009).
Comunicación y poder.
Alianza editorial.
Cappella, J. N. y Jamieson, K. H. (1997).
Spiral of Cynicism: e Press and the Public Good.
Oxford University Press.
CEMOP (2023). Encuesta Preelectoral Elecciones Auton
ó
micas 2023. Regi
ó
n de Murcia.
https://acortar.link/PevdoD
Cohen, B. (1993).
e Press and Foreign Policy (1963).
University of California.
Có
rdoba Cab
ú
s, A., Hidalgo Arjona, M. y L
ó
pez Mart
í
n,
Á
. (2021). Cobertura de diarios en Twitter de las elecciones auton
ó
micas
de Madrid 2021. Procesamiento de lenguaje natural y algoritmos de aprendizaje autom
á
tico.
Profesional de la información, 30
(6),
1-17. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.nov.11
Cornejo Urbina, F. M. (2022). El poder de la comunicaci
ó
n: medios, pol
í
tica y ciudadanos.
Comuni@cción,
13
(1), 74-85.
https://doi.org/10.33595/2226-1478.13.1.674
Crespo, I. y Melero, I. (2022). El cambio de las agendas pol
í
ticas y medi
á
ticas en campa
ñ
a electoral: El caso del 20-d y 26-j en
Españ
a.
Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico,
28
(1), 621-637.
https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/esmp.76689
Crespo, I. y Mora, A. (2021, noviembre 21). ¿
Cuá
nto est
á
n de polarizados los electores de la Regi
ó
n de Murcia?
La Verdad
.
https://acortar.link/YQyGgs
De Casas Moreno, P., Vizca
í
no Verd
ú
, A. y Aguaded, I. (2020). La televisi
ó
n sensacionalista y h
á
bitos de consumo en Espa
ñ
a e
Italia.
Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 26
(2), 483-496.
https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.67582
Domí
nguez Garc
í
a, R., M
é
ndez Muros, S., P
é
rez Curiel, C. y Hinojosa Becerra, M. (2023). Political polarization and emotion
rhetoric in the US presidential transition: A comparative study of Trump and Biden on Twitter and the post-election impact on
the public.
Profesional de la información,
32
(6), 1-17.
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.nov.06
Esser, F., Engesser, S., Matthes., J. y Berganza, R. (2016). Negativity in the news. Exploring Drivers of Bad-News Tendency. En C. De
Vreese, F. Esser y D. Hopmann, (Eds.),
Where´s the Good News? Comparing Political Online and Oine Jornalism in 16 Countries.
Routledge.
Fernández, J. (2006).
Ser humano en los conictos.
Alianza Editorial.
Garcí
a Escribano, J. J. (2015) Las elecciones auton
ó
micas de 2015 en la Regi
ó
n de Murcia.
Cuadernos Manuel Giménez Abad
,
10
,149-164
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
January-June of 2025
Inmaculada Melero López, María Isabel López Palazón and María Quiles Bailén
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 65
Igartua, J. J., y Humanes, M. L. (2004).
Teoría e investigación en comunicación social
. Editorial S
íntesis.
Krippendor, F. (1997).
Metodología de análisis de contenido.
Paidó
s Comunicaci
ón.
Laguna Platero, A. (2011). Liderazgo y comunicaci
ó
n: la personalizaci
ó
n de la pol
í
tica.
Anàlisi,
43
, 45-57.
https://core.ac.uk/
download/pdf/13306339.pdf
Lang, G. y Lang, K. (1955). e Inferential Structure of Political Communications: A Study in Unwitting Bias.
Public Opinion
Quarterly,
19
(2), 168–183,
https://doi.org/10.1086/266559
Lengauer, G., Esser, F. y Berganza, R. (2011). Negativity in Political News: A review of concepts, operationalizations and key
ndings.
Journalism: eory, Practice & Criticism,
13
(2), 179-202.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911427800
Maj
ó
Vá
zquez, S. y Gonz
á
lez Bail
ó
n, S. (2022)
Polarización en las audiencias de los medios en España.
EsadeEcPol.
https://acortar.
link/bS6wld
Mani, E. y Echeverr
í
a, M. (2019). Conanza pol
í
tica y medios de comunicaci
ó
n. Teor
í
a, hallazgos y metodolog
í
as.
Revista de
Comunicación Política, 1,
53-74.
https://doi.org/10.29105/rcp1-3
Martín-Baró
, I. (2003).
Poder, ideología y violencia
. Trotta.
Mazzoleni, G. (2010).
La Comunicación Política.
Alianza Editorial.
McCombs, M. y Shaw, D. (1972). e agenda setting function of mass media.
Public Opinion Quarterly,
31
(2), 176-187.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2747787
McCombs, M. (2006).
Estableciendo la agenda.
Paidós.
Miller, L. (2020). Polarizaci
ó
n en Espa
ñ
a: m
á
s divididos por ideolog
í
a e identidad que por pol
í
ticas p
ú
blicas.
EsadeEcPol Policy
Insight.
https://acortar.link/PQphT4
Moret Soler, D., Alonso Mu
ñ
oz, L. y Casero Ripoll
é
s, A. (2022). La negatividad digital como estrategia de campa
ñ
a en las
elecciones de la Comunidad de Madrid de 2021 en Twitter.
Revista Prisma Social
, (39), 48
–
73.
https://revistaprismasocial.es/
article/view/4860
Muñ
iz, C. (2022). Cuando el debate se conecta con el ataque. Presencia del conicto en el tratamiento informativo de las
elecciones federales mexicanas de 2018 y 2021.
Comunicación y Sociedad,
19,
1-28.
https://doi.org/10.32870/cys.v2022.7841
Muñ
iz C., Aruguete N., Ingrassia P. y Marques, J. (2022). Estudios de framing en Latinoam
érica
. Revista cientíca internacional de
acceso abierto.
https://acortar.link/ReaeUa
Neuendorf, K. (2002).
e content analysis guidebook.
SAGE Publications.
Nir, L. y Druckman, J. N. (2008). Campaign Mixed-Message Flows and Timing of Vote Decision,
International Journal of Public
Opinion Research,
20
(3), 326–346.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edn035
Norris, P. (2000).
A virtuous circle: Political communications in postindustrial societies.
Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511609343
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
66 |
nº 40, pp. 43-66
|
January-June of 2025
Do the media create polarization? The media coverage of the 28 May (28M) election campaign in the Autonomous...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Piñ
uel Raigada, J. S. (2002). Epistemolog
í
a, metodolog
í
a y t
é
cnicas del an
á
lisis de contenido.
Estudios de Sociolingüística, 3
(1),
1-42.
https://acortar.link/XGQUgv
Rivas de Roca, R. (2021). Estudio de discursos pol
í
ticos y medi
á
ticos en las elecciones gallegas de 2020.
Doxa Comunicación
,
33
,
121-136. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n33a1492
Robles, J., Guevara, J., Casas Mas, B., y G
ó
mez, D. (2022). When negativity is the fuel. Bots and Political Polarization in the
COVID-19 debate.
Comunicar,
71,
63-75.
https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-05
Rodrí
guez Virgili, J, Jandura, O. y Rebolledo de la Calle, M. (2014). La personalizaci
ó
n de la pol
í
tica en la cobertura medi
á
tica: una
comparació
n de las campa
ñ
as electorales en Espa
ñ
a y Alemania.
Trípodos,
34
, 61-79.
https://acortar.link/3C0Tz3
Rubio, M. (2009). Opini
ó
n p
ú
blica y medios de comunicaci
ó
n. Teor
í
a de la agenda setting.
Gazeta de antropología, 25
(1), 1-17.
https://acortar.link/rNvLA
Sá
daba, T. (2008).
Framing: el encuadre de las noticias. El binomio terrorismo-medios
. La Cruj
ía.
Semetko, H. A. (1995). Investigaci
ó
n sobre las tendencias de la agenda-setting en los noventa. En A. Mu
ñ
oz Alonso y J. I. Rospir
(Ed.),
Comunicación Política
. Editorial Universitas, S.A.
Semetko H. y Valkenburg, P. (2000). Framing European politics: a content analysis of press and television news.
Journal of
Communication
,
50
(2), 93
‐109.
Silva Rodr
í
guez, A., V
á
zquez Herrero, J. y Negreira Rey, M. C. (2022). Actualizaci
ó
n de las fases del contenido period
í
stico para
dispositivos m
óviles.
R
evista de Comunicación,
21
(1), 367
–
387.
https://doi.org/10.26441/RC21.1-2022-A19
Soroka, S. y McAdams, S. (2015). News, Politics, and Negativity.
Political Communication,
32
(1), 1-22.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1
0584609.2014.881942
Takens, J., Van Atteveldt, W., Van Hoof, A., y Kleinnijenhuis, J. (2013). Media logic in election campaign coverage.
European
Journal of Communication
28
(3), 277-293.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323113478522
Vara, A., Amoedo, A., Moreno, E., Negredo, S. y Kaufmann, J. (2022).
Digital News Report España 2022.
Servicio de Publicaciones
de la Universidad de Navarra
.
https://doi.org/10.15581/019.2022
Villa G
ó
mez, J. D., Velasques Cuartas, N., Barrera Machado, D. y Avendado Ram
í
rez, M. (2020). El papel de los medios de
comunicació
n en la fabricaci
ó
n de recuerdos, emociones y creencias sobre el enemigo que facilitan la polarizaci
ó
n pol
í
tica y
legitiman la violencia.
El
Ágora USB,
20
(1), 18-49.
https://doi.org/10.21500/16578031.4642
Villafranco Robles, C. (2005). El papel de los medios de comunicaci
ó
n en las democracias.
Andamios,
2
(3), 7-21.
https://acortar.
link/rwbEGC
Waisbord, S. (2020). Is it Valid to Attribute Political Polarization to Digital Communication? On Bubbles, Platforms and Aective
Polarization.
Revista SAAP,
14
(2), 248-279.
http://dx.doi.org/10.46468/rsaap.14.2.a1
Zugasti Azagra, R. y Garc
í
a Ortega, C. (2018). Los temas de los l
í
deres pol
í
ticos espa
ñ
oles en twitter. An
á
lisis de las dos campa
ñ
as
electorales de 2015.
Revista ICONO 14. Revista Cientíca De Comunicación Y Tecnologías Emergentes,
16
(1), 136-59.
https://doi.
org/10.7195/ri14.v16i1.1137
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>