Impact of the 2014 European election results on the media coverage of Podemos

Abstract

The results of the European elections of 2014 introduced new stakeholders into the political scene. The aim of this paper is to analyze the news published in Spanish digital media about Podemos, in order to establish the influence of the election results on the media agenda. We apply a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques to identify the thematic framework, the main characters and the characterizations used in news coverage. The study results show that, generally, differences in information management are due to ideological reasons and reveal similarities in the strategies of old and new media. However, while media belonging to media groups follow a line that is more favorable to the major political parties, media without business linkages give the largest and most neutral coverage of Podemos.

KEYWORDS: Podemos; Pablo Iglesias; European elections; agenda-building; digital media; pluralism.