Digital journalism in Spain: Technological, sociopolitical and economic factors as drivers of media evolution

Digital journalism has been a reality in Spain for nearly 30 years. In this time, the number of digital media outlets has steadily increased to become the most abundant type of media in the 2020s, ahead of print, radio and television. Based on a quantitative analysis of the authors’ own database of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Salaverría-Aliaga, R. (Ramón)|||/items/037197e4-63c1-433c-a2f6-4e614741bc0f, Martínez-Costa-Pérez, M.P. (María del Pilar)|||/items/d7a69fe1-dd98-4242-bc3d-09546144ecb9
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Navarra
Repositorio:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dadun.unav.edu:10171/70195
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10171/70195
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Digital journalism
Digital native media
Journalism history
Media evolution
Media economics
Great recession
Political polarization
Spain
Descripción
Sumario:Digital journalism has been a reality in Spain for nearly 30 years. In this time, the number of digital media outlets has steadily increased to become the most abundant type of media in the 2020s, ahead of print, radio and television. Based on a quantitative analysis of the authors’ own database of active digital media outlets (n = 2726) and an examination of Spain’s technological, sociopolitical and economic development in recent decades, this article identifies several factors that have spurred the evolution of digital journalism in Spain. The study results show a correlation in the period from 1994 to 2020 between the percentage of Internet users and the number of active digital media outlets, which showed very similar progress. The study also detects a relationship between the country’s economic evolution and the expansion of digital media, albeit with a seemingly paradoxical effect: digital media, especially digital native media companies, proliferated even more when the economy was at its worst. The article highlights the subtle effects of political factors on the development of digital media in the period under study, although increasing political polarization has triggered additional transformation processes in recent years.