693277

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ABSXXX10.1177/0002764217693277American Behavioral ScientistMicó and Carbonell

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American Behavioral Scientist
1­–13
The Catalan Political © 2017 SAGE Publications
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DOI: 10.1177/0002764217693277
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Media System

Josep-Lluís Micó1 and Josep-Maria Carbonell1

Abstract
Since 2012, Catalonia has been undergoing a complex political process in which a
broad segment of the population has shown itself to be in favor of seceding from
the Kingdom of Spain. This phenomenon is not new, given that during the 20th
century, the relationship between the two territories was a source of instability and
controversy, especially during the Civil War (1936-1939). However, the enormous
popular dimension and the massive participation of hundreds of thousands of citizens
have represented a remarkable new occurrence in recent times. Based on this
situation, the primary aim of the present article is to describe the main reasons for
this radicalization in the process of a hypothetical secession in which Catalonia breaks
away from Spain. It also seeks to analyze and interpret the role that the media is
playing in the so-called “Catalan Process.” Achieving this second objective has been
possible thanks to research undertaken by Blanquerna School of Communication and
International Relations (Ramon Llull University) based on more than 7,000 journalistic
pieces published or broadcasted in more than 100 newspapers, magazines, television
stations, radio stations, and cybernewspapers in seven different languages. The most
significant conclusion of this study, based on content analysis of the aforementioned
sample, is that the media are not being neutral in their coverage of the process. Thus,
they have identified to varying degrees with one of the three possible outcomes of
the conflict: the maintenance of the unity of Spain, the preferred option of much
of national and international media; the independence of Catalonia, the choice of a
high percentage of media in Catalonia itself; or a new relationship based on a federal
system in Spain that would include Catalonia, the possibility with the least level of
support in the three geographical areas studied.

1Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Barcelona, Spain

Corresponding Author:
Josep-Lluís Micó, Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Pl. Joan Coromines
s/n 08029 Barcelona, Spain.
Email: joseplluisms@blanquerna.url.edu
2 American Behavioral Scientist 

Keywords
politics, Spain, Catalonia, independence, communication, media

Catalonia and Spain: An Overview to Understand

the Current Conflict—The September 11, 2012,
Demonstration
The Kingdom of Spain—with 46 million inhabitants—greeted the 21st century as a
democratic country, a member of the European Community—later the European
Union—since 1986 (Bourgogne-Larsen, 1995). The Spain of the new millennium has
the peculiarities, advantages, and problems of a modern cosmopolitan society, far
from the stereotypes traditionally associated with it and which supposedly made it
“different,” an adjective which was widely applied to it during the long dictatorship of
General Francisco Franco, which lasted nearly 40 years (Lee, 1988).
Despite this positive transformation, modernization brought, in the social–cultural
realm, notable changes in the beliefs, values, ideas, and ways of life of its residents
(Rogers, 2010); and in the political sphere, a tension has yet to be resolved between the
State and some specific historical nations inside of Spain, the so-called “historical
nationalities,” fundamentally located in three areas: Catalonia, the Basque Country,
and Galicia (Jover Zamora, Gómez-Ferrer, & Fusi Aizpúrua, 2001). At the same time,
the concept of the liberal state fostered in Western Europe following the American and
French revolutions was received and applied in Spain in a way that was certainly com-
plex and conflictive, with continual constitutional ruptures, which was most clearly
manifested by the Civil War (1936-1969; Vicens Vives, 2012).
The history of Catalonia as a differentiated entity goes back to the long-ago 10th
century. In the Middle Ages, when it was among the most advanced societies in
Europe, Catalonia established one of the first parliaments on the continent. In this era,
it controlled part of the Western Mediterranean, both economically and politically.
After centuries of decline in these two areas, it once again took on significance at the
beginning of the 19th century. Along with the Basque Country, it helped Spain enter
the industrial age (Balcells, 1991). Since then, this territory has been an important
center of innovation and a net exporter of merchandise to the rest of Europe. The
Catalan conflict, like that of the Basque Country and, to a lesser extent, that of Galicia,
form part of the unresolved issues of Spanish democracy.
In Catalonia, which has given the world well-known figures of culture on an inter-
national scale—such as the painter Salvador Dalí, the architect Antoni Gaudí, the
musician Pau Casals, to name a few—a deep feeling of being a different entity sur-
vives. Since the 19th century, many of its political and cultural leaders have main-
tained a clear position in this regard: Catalonia constitutes a nation, and Barcelona is
its capital (Laitin, 1997). Thus, the characteristics which denote nationhood are high-
lighted: their own language and culture, differentiated institutions, a strong feeling of
shared history, and all of the symbols necessary to make this claim, from the flag to the
anthem (Woolard & Gahng, 1990).
Micó and Carbonell 3

Nevertheless, in recent centuries, Catalonia has not existed as a political entity dif-
ferentiated within the State. The regime of Dictator Francisco Franco, especially in his
first years in power, systematically attempted to eliminate the use of the Catalan lan-
guage in a campaign that was referred to as “cultural genocide” (McRoberts, 2001, p.
14). Starting with the transition toward democracy, Catalonia has enjoyed the status of
an autonomous community, like 16 other regions (Gibson, 2001). However, this situa-
tion is far from federalism. All of this has fed the conviction that we find ourselves
faced with a “stateless nation” (McRoberts, 2001).
For many authors, the relationship of Catalonia with Spain offers some interesting
points of view about the politics of the “plurinational states” (Armstrong & Read,
1995; Conversi, 1997; McRoberts, 2001). There are many states in the Western world
which include these “internal nations,” such as Belgium, Canada, and the United
Kingdom (McRoberts, 2001); and all of them struggle with the difficulties of having
two or more nations within them (Brown & Fry, 1993). Since the transition, Spain has
tested asymmetry as a way to reconcile the demands for autonomy of Catalonia, the
Basque Country and Galicia, with a commitment to the rest of the country to strengthen
the central state (Agranoff, 1996). In parallel, creative models have been proposed for
a confederate Spain (Mar-Molinero & Smith, 1996).
Another aspect on which there is consensus is the richness of the Catalan “civil
society.” Throughout history, Catalan citizens have organized a large number and great
variety of collectives, associations, and so on. Influenced by the 100-year-old tradition
of political participation of the bourgeoisie and the middle class, civil society has
always seemed stronger in Catalonia than in the rest of Spain (Gunther, 1992). The
ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Spain which annulled almost all
of the new Statute of Catalonia, which had been endorsed by the voters of this territory
and approved in the General Courts (Parliament), triggered a deep disappointment in
the Catalan citizenship, a disappointment which, along with the economic crisis of the
countries of Southern Europe, contributed to the great demonstration of September 11,
2012, when more than a million and a half citizens occupied the center of Barcelona
united under the slogan “Catalonia, new state of Europe.”
The success of the event, which had no comparable precedent in Spain or in the rest
of Europe, prompted political leaders, citizens, and the media worldwide to direct their
gaze at some demands which, as we have seen, until then had excited much less inter-
est. From that mobilization, which served as a trigger of what later became known as
the “process” for the independence of Catalonia, the research detailed in this article
was developed.

Media and Political Power: Main Framework

The media play a very important role in shaping public opinion and in the basic social-
ization of society (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Luhmann, 2000; McQuail, 1983; Zaller,
1992). In authoritarian countries, deprived of freedom, the media have the function of
legitimizing the established power, and their control by the government prevents the
emergence into the public sphere of opposing groups and institutions. In democracies,
4 American Behavioral Scientist 

the media are an inseparable part of its institutions and exercise a key role in organiz-
ing and developing them.
There is a clear parallel between the development of liberal and democratic societ-
ies and the development of different models of communication. Without freedom of
expression and without the right of citizens to have access to accurate information,
there is a no free and democratic society. Tocqueville already sensed that “in the
United States each newspaper individually has little power, but the periodical press is
still, after the people, the first of powers” (Tocqueville, 1993, p. 175). Indeed, the
media in democracies have had a double essential function: To become, on the one
hand, the watchdog of the other powers—and of the public powers in particular—in
order to become what was historically referred to as the fourth estate (or fourth power);
and, on the other hand, to set itself up as an essential structure for mediation and the
socialization of citizens and society. In the Information Society, with the development
of the Internet and social media, communication has entered a new historical stage
(Becerra, 2003; ; Fuchs, 2008; Mattelart, 2007), a true paradigm shift, in which its
power will be even greater than it is today.
The political powers are well aware of the critical importance of the media in shap-
ing public opinion (Asa Berger, 2007; Bordieu, 1997; Chomsky, 2002; Humphreys,
1996; Innerarity, 2006; Lasswell, 1927; McChesney, 2008; Postmann, 1985; Sartori,
2002). And Lippmann recalled that without the media, they could not lead the “bewil-
dered herd” (Lippmann, 1922). The media have been an essential mechanism in mobi-
lizing the population toward certain positions. The media system and its public
regulation is an expression of the political and social system.
The media, and now also the electronic communications networks, play a decisive
role in the structuring of societies. James Curran (2005) points out seven stories, seven
narratives that attempt to understand the influence of the media on social transforma-
tion and applies them to the concrete case of Great Britain; however, much of what he
points out could be applied to the most advanced societies of the northern hemisphere.
In fact, Curran (2005) proposes seven different stories. First of all, the liberal story,
a story that emphasizes the fact that the media train and empower the people to free
themselves from absolute power. Second, the feminist story, according to which the
media have been instrumental in the process of women’s liberation. Third, the populist
story, in the sense that the media have enabled the socialization of communication,
thus putting an end to the elitist culture. Fourth, the libertarian story, considering the
central role of the media in the secularization of industrial societies and the elimina-
tion of laws that protected the privacy of individuals. Fifth, the anthropological story,
which emphasizes the role of the media in the construction of nation. Sixth, the radical
story, in which the media condition and even usurp the public sphere and public opin-
ion. And finally the seventh, the best known, going from McLuhan to Castells, which
insists on the transforming and sometimes determining influences of the media in the
public sphere and in people’s lives.
These seven stories are immensely interesting. They make very clear the media’s
influence on the profound changes that Western societies have been experiencing. In
Micó and Carbonell 5

Spain and in Catalonia, the media have been very active agents in social transforma-
tions. All of these stories are applicable to some extent in Spain. In particular, the
anthropological story, the weight of the media in the national construction of country
(Anderson, 1983; Price, 1995), is very directly applicable in Catalonia, where the
Catalan Broadcasting Corporation (CCMA; 2015), the public body that brings together
the television and radio channels managed by the Catalan government, specifically
incorporates in its public service mission the construction of “country”: “To help the
consolidation and expansion of the language, culture, identity and international pro-
jection of Catalonia, reflecting the diversity of our society, is one of the main objec-
tives of the CCMA.”
In order to understand the weight of the media in Spain and Catalonia, it is neces-
sary to analyze the media system and its impact on the whole of society. The media
systems of each country are the result of many specific factors in their own societies
and, in particular, of their social, historical, political, economic, and institutional back-
grounds. They are also, however, a powerful mechanism through which we can trans-
form the control and influence of social and political structures. Probably the media
systems are becoming the most valuable instrument of social and political transforma-
tion in our postindustrial societies. When we refer to the media systems, we mean the
model of organization, influence and interaction of the media within a particular coun-
try or society.
The Four Theories of the Press, of Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm (1963), identi-
fied four media systems that have been references for many years and which still are
in many respects. Communication systems are divided into two blocks which in turn
are divided into two more theories: On the one hand, the “Authoritarian Theory” and
its derivative of the era, the “Soviet-Communist Theory”; and on the other, the
“Libertarian Theory” and its derivative the “Social Responsibility Theory.” Forty
years later, another theory had less success. Hallin and Mancini (2007) presented their
theory of media systems for Western Europe and North America. Their model pro-
poses a division into three: first, the “Mediterranean model or polarized pluralism”;
second, the “model of North Europe or Corporate Democracy”; third, the “model of
the North Atlantic or Liberal.”
Further to this, Carbonell (2013) proposed a model of media systems: liberal,
social liberal, or authoritarian. Within the social liberal model he identifies a subdi-
vision: the coherent liberal and the atrophied liberal. The atrophied liberal systems
are those systems in which the social liberal is corrupted by the control of the public
media systems by the government and in which financial and economic groups con-
trol private media corporations. As a result, the media are quite politicized, and citi-
zens do not have access to free and accurate information. Both Spain and Catalonia
can be identified as belonging to the “Mediterranean model of polarized pluralism”
(Hallin & Mancini, 2007) or Social Liberal Atrophied System (Carbonell, 2013).
Both identifications insist on the fact that the media are controlled in some way by
the economic and political power, and that the media have a very partisan approach
to their society.
6 American Behavioral Scientist 

Objectives
Following the great demonstration of September 11, 2012, in Barcelona, and before
the territorial elections scheduled for 2 months later, the Catalan government—the
Generalitat—financed a research project at Blanquerna School of Communication and
International Relations (Ramon Llull University) whose objectives were

1. To examine quantitatively the information which appeared in the press, on

television, the radio, and the Internet in Catalonia, Spain, and the rest of the
world about politics in this territory, Catalonia, from September 11—when the
National Day is celebrated—until the week after the regional parliamentary
elections of November 25 of the same year.
2. To classify these materials taking into account indicators such as the space and
time occupied by the information, the significance accorded them within the
total quantity of the news items, the affiliation of opinion makers who analyzed
the events, and so forth.
3. To analyze the pluralism and, therefore, the balance of information in the press
coverage of this issue in the press, on television, radio, and the Internet in
Catalonia, Spain, and the rest of the world.
4. To study the selection of news sources and actors when covering this object of
study in the press, on television, radio, and the Internet in Catalonia, Spain, and
internationally.

The research focused on the media with the widest audience or dissemination in the
three territorial areas defined: Catalonia, Spain, and the rest of the world.

Methodology
The methodology used in this research was content analysis, applied to the following
elements between September 10—1 day prior to the great citizens’ demonstration—
and November 30, 2012, following the elections:

Information published in print periodicals

News programs on radio stations and television channels
Information published in online newspapers

The principal magazines with news, interviews, political discussion, and debate
included in their format.

Media Sample
Except for the international press, seven different media sources were selected for
each type of media and territory. Considering their scope and influence and the need
to maintain a certain geographical balance, the number of foreign newspapers selected
Micó and Carbonell 7

was higher. However, in some categories, it was impossible to arrive at seven different
media sources—in the categories of Catalan television and radio and international
online newspapers—because the number of representative news organizations cover-
ing the area in question is less than this figure. On the Internet, both pure players
among online media, that is, those news portals without a print or audiovisual
version—genuinely digital—and the electronic editions of great newspapers of world-
wide renown were studied.
Internationally, the volume of media audience was largely conditioned by the size
of their respective areas of reference. Therefore, in the definition of the sample, differ-
ent, complementary empirical criteria—other than audience—were applied.
Starting with the political framework for decision which formed the basis for the
process initiated in 2012 in Catalonia, attention was focused on the European media in
countries with greatest influence among the founders of the European Union: Germany,
France, Italy, Belgium, and Holland. The United Kingdom was added to this group as,
although it joined the project of the Union at a later date, today it is one of the countries
with the greatest power and influence. In addition, at the time the United Kingdom was
undergoing a similar process of sovereignty in Scotland. It was also important to add
the United States to this sample as a traditional ally of the European Union and a fun-
damental actor internationally. Thus, this group ended up including most of the princi-
pal trading partners of Catalonia.
Likewise, it was crucial to focus on two key sectors: the press and television. While
the readership of newspapers has been declining overall in recent years, they still exert
a great influence on elite political, economic, and cultural groups. Therefore, they
remain decisive actors in shaping public opinion. In addition, television is still the
most popular form of media with the greatest potential audience.
It was also decided that it was important, based on their authority, to include promi-
nent print publications that were not general in nature, but, in this case, specialized in
economic information.
The great global audiovisual channels operate as news agencies of a sort. For many
media, they act as correspondents in areas where they cannot send their own staff.
Therefore, they also form part of the study.
For an obvious reason—their recipients are not the public, but rather other media—
the news agencies themselves were not incorporated in the sample.
Radio is basically a medium of internal scope within each country, so it does not
have much importance as other media. This is why it was discarded from the interna-
tional dimension of this research.
To obtain units of analysis from digital media, cover pages were captured of the
online media which were the object of study. This capture was performed daily at 4:00
p.m., a moment of balance between the morning and evening news cycles.
Thus, a total of 104 different media outlets were selected, in seven different lan-
guages: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and Dutch. Among this
sample, there were 24 Catalan, 28 Spanish, and 52 international sources.
As already indicated, the analysis was carried out on journalistic pieces published
or broadcast between September 10 and November 30, 2012. A chronology was laid
8 American Behavioral Scientist 

out which established a series of journalistic milestones which had to be examined. On

each of these days, the material that appeared on the selected television and radio pro-
grams and online media was analyzed. With regard to the press, the study was con-
ducted on newspapers published the day after the milestone event.
The total number of pieces analyzed was 7,077 of which 5,155 were news items
and 1,922 opinion.

Factors of Analysis for Objectives 1 and 2

Factors With Regard to Information Pieces
In addition to the basic identification data of the piece (media, author, date; genre—
news, feature, reportage, interview; and headline) and data about the space or time it
occupied and the rank or position accorded to it (cover page, summary, or home; sec-
tion, page, columns), the principal object of analysis was the headline of the piece.
With appropriate adaptations, the analysis was applied equally to all forms of media:
newspapers, radio, television, and Internet.
We distinguished between factual headlines and critical headlines. The former are
objective in nature, to the extent that they are either true or false (or erroneous), and
the most common examples are those related to declarations. In contrast, the critical
headlines are nothing more than the interpretation that the journalist makes of the
news event in accordance with his or her values, interests, or ideology.
There were three decisive factors to take into account in the case of factual head-
lines: the subject of the statement, the action verb, that is, the sense of the predicate—
positive, negative, neutral—and the object of this predicate, that is, the subject on
whom the positive or negative action is predicated.
With regard to the critical headlines, it was first necessary to determine whether the
media was making an expression of a positive, negative, or neutral character. Then,
one had to identify the subject directly affected by the critical action of the journalist
or media. The analysis had to demonstrate the position of the media with regard to the
issue in question.
When dealing with an interview, in addition to the basic data previously described,
we noted the political affiliation (by parties) or the ideological affiliation—indepen-
dence leaning, statist, federalist, or undetected—of the person in question.

Factors With Regard to Opinion Pieces

The main objective of the analysis of the opinion material was the identification of the
political, ideological, and professional affiliation of the author and the study of the
headlines.
Besides the basic reference data (media, date, headline), the type of text had to be
identified (editorial, forum, column, letter to or from the editor, background article) as
well as the author’s credentials, that is, his or her profession—journalist, politician,
Micó and Carbonell 9

expert—in addition to their ideological affiliation. Only this second part was applied
to the study of broadcast debates, also covered in this research.
The headlines were classified as thematic, when only the question addressed was
indicated; critical, when a judgment was made; or of denigration, if they served to
discredit or denigrate their subjects.
The same criteria for analysis were followed as for news items, that is, it was indi-
cated whether the action was presented as positive or negative, and it was stated who
the object was, that is, the subject who received the action.

Factors of Analysis for Objectives 3 and 4

The best way to determine the degree of political and ideological pluralism was to
identify the actors and sources of information, to observe their reflections in the text,
and analyze their position, expressed or implied.
Various categories of actors were established: heads of government; other members
of the government, political parties, Catalan civil society, Spanish civil society, the
Crown, the European Union, international governments, regional governments,
Parliaments, Catalonia and Spain as generic references, and so forth.
In the analysis of the actors, it was also specified whether, in each of their appear-
ances throughout the newspaper account, they were attributed an action or behavior
that was of a positive, negative, or indeterminate nature.
With regard to sources, the status or treatment of the persons or institutions that
provided material of interest to the journalists was identified. Likewise, it was noted
when, on radio or television, the source appeared via a live connection, a format which
is superior to others in terms of function, cost, and so forth.

Results
The results of the research show significant differences depending on the geographic
area of the media, and depending on their format or genre. As is logical, the Catalan
media were those who disseminated the most information about the Catalan indepen-
dence process. That was the origin of 60% of the pieces studied; state media were the
source of 36.2%; and international media, the remaining 3.8%.
It was also predictable that the Catalan media were those to attribute more impor-
tance to this issue, including more information than the media of the rest of Spain in
printed or digital front pages and in radio or television summaries.
On going into detail, it is clear that international newspapers were those that used
more critical headlines during the days analyzed (63.1%), more than the Spanish
media (42.5%) or the Catalan (30%). Furthermore, international online media were the
most critical (42.9%), closely followed by those of Catalonia (42.6%).
The main subject of the news headlines in Catalonia and in Spain were the Catalan
President Artur Mas (17.3% and 9.28%, respectively). Internationally, they empha-
sized Catalonia (29.9%) and the Spanish president Mariano Rajoy (11.5%).
10 American Behavioral Scientist 

President Mas was the primary subject of the radio in Catalonia (30.4%), and the
same can be said of Spanish and Catalan television (38.1% and 28.7%, respectively),
and of Spanish and Catalan online newspapers (18.4% and 15.7%, respectively). With
regard to international television and online media, the subject that was most high-
lighted was Catalonia (70% and 62.5%, respectively).
The type of actions in the headlines of the international press during the days ana-
lyzed was 44.9% negative. The proportion of unfavorable headlines reached 50.8% on
Spanish television and 71.6% on state online media.
The primary objects of these headlines were, in the Spanish and Catalan press,
President Mas (37.1% and 23.7%, respectively); on Catalan radio (15.7%) and on
Spanish television (26.8%) the same thing happened. In contrast, on international tele-
vision and online media, the primary object was Catalonia, with 50% and 6.2%,
respectively.
Spanish online newspapers were the media which included the greatest number of
headlines with denigration among all of the types of media: 3.4% of the total.
The type of actions in the opinion headlines of all the media, of all kinds and from
the different geographical areas, was negative.
The principal recipients of these negative actions in opinion pieces were, in the
Catalan press, Catalonia itself (26.1%) and its president, Artur Mas (20.4%). As for
Spanish newspapers, the order was the reverse, but with the same actors: Mas (41.4%)
and Catalonia (26.1%). On the international scale as well Catalonia (57.8%) came out
quite badly.
Opinion leaders and columnists who defended unionist positions in the Spanish
media represented 63%; 6.5% were in favor of a Spanish federation which would
include Catalonia, along the lines proposed by the main opposition party, the social-
ists; 6% were in favor of Catalan sovereignty; the ideology of 24.5% could not be
identified.
The international media included a majority of contributions of opinion makers and
columnists without a clear ideological adherence (66.7%). Those who defended the
union of Spain represented 18.8%; in contrast, 12.5% showed themselves to be in
favor of Catalan independence; the federalists barely reached 2.1%.
The main actor—that is, the active subject—in the news disseminated by the press
in Catalonia was President Mas (15.7%), as well as in Spain (18.3%); while Catalonia
was the main actor in international periodicals (15.9%), closely followed by Mas
(14.1%) and the Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy (9.1%). The radio, television, and
the Internet followed the same pattern with slight variations.
The evaluation of these actors in the news in the press was neutral or indeterminate,
both in Catalonia (68.6%) and Spain (53.5%) as well as in the rest of the world (69.9%).
This neutral evaluation was present to a lesser extent on Catalan radio and television
than in the rest of the State. In fact, the worst evaluation came from the online news-
papers and radios of Catalonia (31.7% and 26.7%, respectively).
The most frequent sources of information published by the press and news portals
were unidentified persons. Artur Mas was the person most frequently present on
Catalan radio (25.3%) and on Spanish television (17.8%).
Micó and Carbonell 11

Conclusions
Following the historic citizens’ mobilization of September 11, 2012, in Barcelona,
both in Catalan and Spanish media, a clearly differentiated ideological position was
observed, either for or against the process of independence. Although among the
Catalan media there was a greater variety of opinions, we can state that both the
Catalan and Spanish media behaved in ways that followed the theories described by
such authors as Carbonell (2013) and Hallin and Mancini (2007).
Thus, in accordance with the “Mediterranean model of polarized pluralism” (Hallin
& Mancini, 2007) and with the Social Liberal Atrophied System (Carbonell, 2013),
there were periodical publications, radio stations, television channels, and online
media which were openly favorable to the independents’ postulations, while others
called for the “right to decide,” that is, the authorization of a referendum which would
permit the opinion of Catalan citizens to be made known. As previously pointed out, a
greater diversity in the media of Catalonia also translated into a greater pluralism
among opinion leaders and columnists.
By type of media, the greatest number of opinions found about the independence pro-
cess in Catalonia was to be found on online media. While the Catalan online media showed
themselves to be mostly in favor of independence, on the Spanish online media, the defense
of Spanish unity was absolute. There the percentage of news pieces with critical headlines
(i.e., those which expressed value judgments), both those for and those against the seces-
sion of Catalonia, were more numerous than in any other type of media. This way of pro-
ceeding was clearly described in the seventh story of Curran (2005), which emphasized the
ability of the media to influence the public sphere and citizens’ lives.
Internationally, Catalonia and its president, thanks to the beginning of this process,
occupied a time and space without historical precedents in media of all kinds and on
all different scales. However, often both actors—the territory and its political leader—
appeared linked to actions and evaluations of a negative character. The president of the
Spanish government functioned in this context as the antagonist of Catalonia and Artur
Mas, although, in this case, he was able to avoid negative consideration. In any case,
both for Catalonia and for Mas, the criticisms served to make them known on a wider
scale and to occupy—though only temporarily—a significant position on the interna-
tional news agenda.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: The authors received financial support for this research, which is
part of project “Political information, Twitter and democracy. Journalism in the environ-
ment of social media” (R+D+I Project. Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness)
CSO2014-52283-C2-2-P.
12 American Behavioral Scientist 

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Author Biographies
Josep-Lluís Micó is Vice-Dean at Blanquerna School of Communication and International
Relations (Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain).
Josep-Maria Carbonell is Dean at Blanquerna School of Communication and International
Relations (Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain).