Agendas, frames and discourses in the Spanish TV newscasts during the Prestige Oil Spill Crisis

Abstract

On November 2002, the oil tank Prestige sent an SOS that soon became the starting point of one of the main environmental disasters in Europe. The oil spills lead into both a political crisis and a social confrontation. This article analyses the crisis’ coverage of four Spanish TV channels. By means of a quantitative content analysis and a discourse analysis, each channel’s agenda is rebuilt, mapping the corporate and informative strategies of each TV station. Crises are presented as periods when news production routines become accelerated, highlighting both the strengths and the weaknesses of daily journalism. Results underline the excessive salience attributed to live coverage, the obsession for quantifying news’ dimensions and the growing relevance attributed to the image, while crises are presented as strategic opportunities for TV channels in order to rethink their position in the market.