Media and public agenda in the Igualada assault (Spain). Rape myths

Abstract

The diffusion that a news item can have has grown substantially due to social networks. In the same way, they allow people to share and comment on the news, generating discussion and public debate. This can have a significant impact on public opinion and on the perception of the news. If we add that it is an event of violence that directly affects a specific group of society, the spread of information increases considerably and social networks function as a loudspeaker for the groups that organize around these cases. This research analyzes the coverage made by traditional media and digital natives, through their social networks (Twitter and Facebook) through a methodological triangulation: bibliographic research, number of publications and discourse analysis. The results show that the media have structured their media narrative around three axes: the place of the event, that the victim was a minor and the victim's mother's criticism of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero. The case has been characterized, therefore, by its politicization. In conclusion, it is noted that the subjects of the information in the news headlines were, on most occasions, the mother and the victim.