“Spain’s deadly struggle”: The news coverage of terrorism and violence during the Transition in the US weeklies Time and Newsweek

Abstract

This article analyzes how the best-selling US weekly magazines Time and Newsweek represented the multiple episodes of violence which took place during the Spanish Transition perpetrated by both extreme right post-Francoist groups as well as terrorist organizations such as ETA or GRAPO. These elite political publications, often consulted by US foreign policymakers at the time, served to endorse the process of regime change that was underway in Spain. Through a study based on the qualitative analysis of editorial and main feature articles over a 162-week sample period (from October 1975 to December 1978) the article outlines the repercussion that such violence actions had in the media projection of late 1970s Spain within the United States’ elite weekly press.