ABSTRACT

European countries responded to the economic crisis of 2008 by adopting austerity policies that deeply transformed their economic and social model, leading to a general decline in welfare. This study attempts to demonstrate how the media contributed to legitimise this kind of policies by portraying them as the only possible alternative, focusing on the Spanish press. To this end, we carry out a Content Analysis of the frames used by two Spanish newspapers to address the policies applied in response to the crisis between 2008 and 2015. Additionally, this article links through a Z-test the frames reproduced by the media with the type of sources that promoted them, a dimension of the crisis coverage that remains largely unexplored. It also analyses the evolution of the media discourse throughout the crisis. The results show how coverage was dominated by frames that legitimised austerity by presenting it as the only existing option. In a relevant way, both elitist and alternative sources mostly promoted frames that legitimised austerity, although in a different way. On the other hand, the legitimisation of austerity was exercised more intensely in the crisis periods in which these policies were being applied more strongly.

摘要

欧洲国家为应对 2008 年的经济危机，采取了深刻改变其经济和社会模式的紧缩政策，导致福利普遍下降。本研究试图展示媒体如何通过将其描述为唯一可能的替代方案来使此类政策合法化，重点关注西班牙媒体。为此，我们对两家西班牙报纸使用的框架进行了内容分析，以解决 2008 年至 2015 年期间为应对危机而应用的政策。此外，本文通过 Z 检验将媒体转载的框架与促进它们的来源类型，危机报道的一个方面在很大程度上仍未被探索。它还分析了整个危机期间媒体话语的演变。结果表明，通过将紧缩作为唯一现有的选择，将紧缩合法化的框架如何控制了报道。以相关的方式，精英和替代来源大多提倡使紧缩合法化的框架，尽管方式不同。另一方面，紧缩的合法性在这些政策得到更强有力的应用的危机时期得到了更强烈的实施。