News Treatment of the Protests in Colombia in 2021 in the Spanish Press: El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia and abc

Abstract

The National Strike, the most important wave of protests in Colombia’s recent history, marked its beginning on April 28, 2021. The tax reform was the principal point of conflict, which then moved to the neoliberal policies of the government of Iván Duque, police violence and inequality, among other issues. The protests claimed the lives of more than 60 people and mobilized thousands of citizens throughout the country, capturing the attention of the national and international press. This article analyzes the informative treatment given to the protests by Spanish national newspapers El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, and abc, to assess the importance given to the protests and to point out how they contributed to the informative knowledge of the Spaniards. This research is based on a quantitative content analysis, in which, in addition to analyzing the journalistic coverage, a comparison is made between the four selected newspapers during the first month after the outbreak. The first conclusion indicates that, the news was covered almost daily, the subject was not addressed in depth.