News Framing of the Wealth Tax in Spain: An Explanatory Model of its Media (De)Legitimization
Abstract
The media plays both a direct and indirect role in the formulation of public policy. Focusing on fiscal policy, this article examines the role of the press in the mediatization of the new “Temporary Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes,” particularly in how it serves to clarify, frame, and (de)legitimize this tax measure before public opinion. Based on a sample of 46 news items from El País, El Mundo, El Economista, and Cinco Días, we conduct a discourse analysis to identify variables that help measure the degree of media legitimization of this fiscal policy. Using a four-tier model, we find significant differences between newspapers, explained by both their editorial orientation and their typology. Our results reveal a highly politicized and polarized media environment around this case study, where delegitimization of the new tax is based more on political than technical arguments.
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