Media and Stakeholders: Contribution to the Public Debate on Poverty and Energy Justice in Spain

Abstract

The media and the different social actors have played an important role in shaping public opinion about energy poverty and injustice in Spain. A mixed-design study analysed the composition of stakeholder groups, their degree of involvement and participation, their substantial contributions to the reduction of inequality, and their communication strategies. Both content analysis and qualitative analysis were used by adopting a well-founded approach to 478 news items from the digital press, published between 2012 and 2017. The study concluded that energy poverty has been addressed from the welfare and conjunctural perspective and that this has led the media advocate energy justice and collective empowerment in order to achieve energy citizenship.