Introducción: En el presente trabajo se analizan las presiones que desde la política se han ejercido o intentado ejercer sobre el periodismo. Metodología: A partir de la combinación de metodologías cualitativas, como los grupos de discusión con ciudadanos, y cuantitativas, como encuestas a las profesionales, se analiza cómo esta influencia de la política sobre los periodistas puede llegar a limitar los instrumentos de rendición de cuentas de los que disponen los medios de comunicación. Resultados: los resultados de esta investigación ponen en evidencia que periodistas y ciudadanos comparten la percepción que las influencias políticas son uno de los principales supuestos que afectan al desarrollo de un buen periodismo. Discusión/conclusiones: Pese a que los periodistas reconocen las presiones políticas y gubernamentales, el estudio concluye que no ceden ante ellas ni se sienten responsables ante partidos o gobiernos.

Editorials represent a newspaper's principal means of ideological positioning and serve to identify the attitude of each newspaper and its readership to some of the main actors in any given conflict, especially those that are political in nature. Catalonia's independence movement has experienced a surge in recent years. The turning point came in July 2010, after Spain's constitutional court ruled against some aspects of Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy (the legislation regulating the relationship between the Catalan autonomous community and the Spanish state). The ruling annulled some of the articles of the statute. The demonstration in support of Catalan independence that took place on September 11, 2012, was considered the most important among several mass rallies held for this purpose over successive years on Catalonia's National Day. This article presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of editorial articles published around these two key dates, with the goal of studying each newspaper's treatment of political actors and their degree of identification with these actors. Their use of arguments aimed at persuading readers and legitimizing a given position during the specified time periods in 2010 and 2012 will also be studied. The study focuses on the editorial articles published by several newspapers in four distinct regional contexts: Catalonia, Valencia, the Basque Country, as well as the

This article is a follow-up to an article published in the American Behavioral Scientist in 2017, titled “Shaping public opinion for confrontation: Catalan independence claims as represented in Spanish, Catalan, Valencian, and Basque Editorials.” At that time, our study was based on opinions expressed in mainstream newspaper editorials during two significant events in Catalonia’s recent history: the demonstration against the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of July 10, 2010, and the mass pro-independence demonstration held on September 11, 2012. The research sought to compare the press reports published in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Basque Country with those from the rest of Spain (primarily Madrid). This study applies the same methodology to analyze editorial pieces published during the campaign prior to the Catalan parliamentary elections on December 21, 2017. This date was historically significant for Catalonia because for the first time since the restoration of democracy following the Franco regime, the Spanish state had intervened in Catalonia’s self-rule by using Article 155 of the Spanish constitution to call snap elections. At the time, the lead candidates for the pro-independence parties were Oriol Junqueras (Republican Left of Catalonia) and Carles Puigdemont (Together for Catalonia), the former in prison and the latter abroad (or in “exile,” according to secessionists). In light of the opposing opinions and perspectives, we believe it is worth analyzing and comparing mainstream editorials from Catalonia (Barcelona) and Spain (Madrid) once again, to ascertain the dominant narratives used in both to explain the Catalan and Spanish position and frame of reference. We have extended the scope to include mainstream online as well as printed media with a view to achieving a better understanding and providing a wider overview of the public agenda and debate at that time.

The Catalan sovereignty process has been a topic of interest in the mass media worldwide in recent years. We analysed nearly 900 stories, published between 10 June 2010 and 4 October 2017 by the main newspapers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, for content in terms of genres, frames and journalistic sources. We also conducted in-depth interviews with the newspaper foreign correspondents to Spain. A main conclusion is that all the newspapers framed the sovereignty process as a conflict between the Spanish and Catalan governments, in which the EU, according to the newspapers analysed, should mediate.

We describe partial results from a study on the construction of the international image of the political process in Catalonia in recent years in the main European and the US newspapers. In particular, using several analytical techniques we determine the presence of civil society organisations for and against independence in press articles between July 2010 (the first mass demonstration, in this case against a Spanish Constitutional Court ruling on the Catalan Statute of Autonomy) and October 2017 (the self-determination referendum). To detect the dominant frame, a framing analysis was undertaken from a communicative and deductive perspective, applying the widely tested and used Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) classification. The international press has generally depicted the Catalan sovereignty process as a conflict involving institutions and politicians, despite the fact that the Catalan process has always been claimed as an initiative with social and cultural roots. The research concludes that, although social movements and civil society played a significant role in the emergence of the sovereignty movement, these have been rendered largely invisible by the international press.