The configuration of media agendas in second-order elections. Media coverage and electoral turnout in the European Parliament elections in May 2019

Abstract

The electoral competition with the local and regional elections in Spain has allowed us to study the interaction of the different agendas and whether the information coverage that the different media made of the elections to the European Parliament helped to offer sufficient and representative information to promote the electoral participation. Within the framework of study of the Agenda-Setting and Spiral of Silence theories, we have developed a content analysis with a large sample (374 informative pieces in 5 press newspapers during the campaign) to verify how the media of communication considered these elections as of the first or second order. In line with previous research, we have detected that the volume of content has increased considerably, although the tone and nationalization of the content continues within similar parameters (framed within what has been called “domestic politics”).