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Simulating and Dissimulating News: Spanish Media Coverage of the Swine Flu Virus

2014; Wiley; Volume: 23; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/1468-5973.12063

1468-5973

Sergi Cortiñas‐Rovira, Carles Pont‐Sorribes, Felipe Alonso Marcos,

Crime, Deviance, and Social Control

Spanish press handling of the swine flu crisis of 2009 was explored by studying front pages and editorials for the E l Pais , E l Mundo , L a V anguardia , E l Periódico and A vui newspapers over a period of 8 weeks. Major ethical issues arising during media coverage were identified, notably the use of scaremongering and sensationalist stratagems. The analysis revealed discrepancies between front page information and editorial stance. Specifically, front pages depicted a situation of alarm liable to generate social panic, whereas editorials tended to play down the crisis and complied rigorously with ethical and social responsibility criteria.