News sections, journalists and information sources in the journalistic coverage of crises and emergencies in Spain

Abstract

Media social responsibility is rarely more evident than in the news coverage of a crisis, disaster or emergency. This research analyses the use of and trust in information sources through a nationwide survey of 30 editors-in-chief of Spain’s most relevant newspapers, radio, television and online media outlets (N=30). With a very high response rate (76.66%), the findings confirm that the use of unofficial sources (victims and those affected) are prioritized over official government sources. It is significant that the inferential analysis reveals that the editors give the same credibility as a source of information to the government as it does to the victims in the current context of misinformation, fake news and hoaxes. It is concluded that newsmaking should be built on the balanced use of official and unofficial sources. The results also confirm that the entire newsroom participates in this coverage and no journalistic specialization is detected amongst reporters.

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