Press and authority in the local sphere: Communication dynamics in the press coverage of the building of the Sant Daniel Road

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship in the local sphere between written communication media and the municipal authority during the negotiation, approval and building of the bypass of National Road No. 2 through Sant Daniel valley in Girona province. A study of the coverage of the written press sheds light on the relationship between local journalists and the municipal information source, and on how information flows developed. This paper also looks at the strategies unfolded by ecologist movements to consolidate themselves as an information actor and at how their media pressure
influenced the political agenda.

KEYWORDS: infrastructures, local journalism, local authority, news dynamics, agenda setting, public opinion.