The Impact of Media Coverage of Corruption on Spanish Public Opinion

This paper analyses media coverage of corruption scandals in Spain between 1996 and 2009. The first aim is to determine to what extent the two most-read newspapers in Spain, El Pais 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 influence 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 influenced by changes in the perception of the economic situation, by showing that this variable has low explanatory power compared to media coverage.