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

Abstract

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.