Spain’s newspaper crisis

In the seven and a half years we have been producing The Listening Post, we have looked at the media in many Spanish speaking countries, through our coverage of Latin America. But we have never taken a close look at Spain and the media there.

What got our attention: changes at the top at three of the most influential Spanish newspapers; three editors in chief let go in just three months at El Pais, El Mundo and La Vanguardia. This story has angles both political and economic: the changes at El Pais and El Mundo came on the heels of their coverage of a corruption story that has had the government on the ropes. And Spanish papers have felt the effects of a wider financial crisis and competition from the internet.

Then there is the issue of conflicts of interest: banks that have loaned the newspapers the money the papers need to survive end up owning shares in those media outlets. So how hard can the new editors of those papers push, on the coverage of the financial sector and its relationship with Spanish politics?

The Listening Post’s Marcela Pizarro reports from the Spanish capital, Madrid.

Listening Post can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0830, 1930; Sunday: 1430; Monday: 0430. Click here for more Listening Post.

In the age of European austerity, the credibility of the media is just one more commodity that Spaniards are finding in short supply.