Communicative analysis of the Aigües Eden crisis in the primary digital and print media outlets

Abstract

The media have the primary function of reporting events that take place in a manner that meets the principles of journalistic ethics to the greatest extent possible. In the case of health crises, on account of the risk posed to the beneficiaries’ most valuable asset, there is an even greater need to receive information about the events that unfold. The media have a duty to convey this information in the least scaremongering fashion possible and in accordance with the events that are actually occurring. Consequently, on the basis of a qualitative analysis of several factors this article examines journalistic ethics and the quality of the mainstream media in Catalonia in relation to the food crisis that broke out in April 2016 due to the consumption of bottled water in Barcelona and nearby towns.

Keywords: Bottled water, Aigües Eden water, communication, norovirus, Arinsal spring, food safety.