Informative treatment of the pedophilia crisis in the Catholic Church: Analysis of the El País story from the framing point of view

Abstract

This article presents a study of the story elaborated by the newspaper El País on the pedophilia crisis that the Catholic Church went through during the pontificate of Benedict XVI (2005-2013). The methodological approach used for its examination is the framing paradigm, specifically one of its most significant categories, content analysis. Thus, we discovered both the preferential position that this topic has occupied in the agenda of the newspaper, as well as a generic framing that combines conflict and the attribution of responsibility to the institution. On the other hand, in the analyzed pieces we recognize certain risks that the literature warns about when dealing with the religious fact in the non-denominational press. As a result of the findings presented, the distortion produced by adapting the narrative on the religious fact to the routines of generalist journalism, which so often leads to disregarding nuances and presenting the information out of context, can be seen. Therefore, we conclude with the proposal of specialization in this thematic area as a preventive measure, considering the premise that religious information continues to be one of the least present in research, scientific production and teaching of journalism in Spain.