The Role of the News Media in Fighting Corruption Practices: A Case Study of Spain

Abstract

This article first outlines the conditions in which the media could contribute to creating and maintaining an atmosphere that discourages corruption practices. Second, based on the content analysis of 4361 online news articles, it demonstrates that these conditions are not present in the media coverage of corruption in Spain. The Spanish media do not promote a substantive frame, i.e., a meaningful discussion on the causes, consequences and remedies of corruption. There is a very low correspondence between how corruption is debated in the parliament, where substantive frames predominate, and how it is reported in the media. Furthermore, the media do not promote a pluralistic debate. The main players in corruption related articles are the judiciary and political actors, mainly executive elites and political parties involved in corruption scandals. Even though civil society actors, such as non-governmental organizations, are important for generating public pressure against corrupt practices, the results show that these groups go practically unnoticed in public debates. The findings also show that the dynamics that could help to curb corruption are neither present in the news articles of a news agency, nor in those published in newspapers with different political orientations.