Abstract

MONTERO, Mercedes; RODRIGUEZ-VIRGILI, Jordi  and  GARCIA-ORTEGA, Carmela. The Role of the Media in Building a Political Community. The Press in the Transition to Democracy in Spain. Palabra Clave [online]. 2008, vol.11, n.2, pp.293-309. ISSN 0122-8285.

The behavior and attitudes adopted by the Spanish press during the period of transition to democracy (November 1975 to December 1978), a time when the most relevant political and institutional changes in that process occurred, are analyzed in this article. The role of the major newspapers is explained from several perspectives, as are the reasons that prompted them to reach a consensus on the fundamental topics of public debate. The result is a demonstration of how the mass media were decisive in helping to build a new political community based on democracy. Using several daily newspapers as examples -taken one by one and as a whole- the author explains the special characteristics of this interesting case of cooperation between political power and journalism. Several exceptions are included as well, such as the extreme right-wing press and the Basque nationalist sectors.

Keywords : Democracy politics; newspaper; political information; Spain.

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