The Impact of Media Coverage of Corruption on Spanish Public Opinion

Abstract

This paper analyses media coverage of corruption scandals in Spain
between 1996 and 2009. The fi rst aim is to determine to what extent the
two most-read newspapers in Spain, El País and El Mundo, cover
corruption scandals following different political orientations. Results
illustrate highly partisan media coverage: there are important differences in
how these newspapers cover corruption cases, depending on the political
party involved (PP or PSOE). A second goal is to analyse whether the media
infl uence citizens’ perception of corruption as a public problem. Results
show that, when the number of news stories on political corruption
increases, the percentage of citizens that consider corruption as one of the
most important problems in Spain also increases. Media impact on public
opinion is high and occurs in the short- to mid-term. Finally, the paper
analyses to what extent the perception of corruption is infl uenced by
changes in the perception of the economic situation, by showing that this
variable has low explanatory power compared to media coverage.