Evaluation of the news quality of the Basque press compared with the European reference press

Abstract

This work sets out the main conclusions of a quantitative and qualitative study of the evolution in the quality of news items published in the printed and digital versions of the daily newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria, born in 1990 and its direct successor Berria (born in 2003), the longrunning weekly publication Argia appearing in 1919 and Goiena, born as Goienkaria in 2000, a biweekly publication which is published in the area of the Alto Deba (Gipuzkoa), and compares them with five daily newspapers referent in Europe: Financial Times, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Corriere della Sera, and El País. The research team has used an analysis method based on the concept of “media performance” developed by Denis McQuail (1992). The conclusions reflect a downward trend in quality both in the Basque and European press.