Research on media coverage of electoral campaigns point to an increasing mediatization. This paper seeks to corroborate whether the trend also takes place in exceptional circumstances, such as those surrounding the regional elections in Catalonia in 2017. The analysis compares the frames observed in six newspapers (El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, El Periódico de Catalunya, Punt Avui and Ara) with those adopted by the seven political parties represented in the autonomous parliament (JuntsXCat, ERC, PSC, PP, Ciudadanos, En Comú-Podem and CUP). The results indicate that the symbolic frames characteristic of collective action were dominant in the political discourses, although the media logic once again became hegemonic in global terms.

This research analyses the opinion articles about the COVID-19 published in the main newspapers of Italy, Spain and Germany. To this purpose, a qualitative inductive-deductive content analysis methodology has been used along two complementary phases. The first included the detailed analysis of the sample, and the second involved a method of comparative textual analysis using the Sketch Engine software. The results show the existence of some common issues about the virus, although with different approaches depending on the country: a certain vision marked by national politics in the Spanish case, an interpretative view in the case of Germany and a more social-humanistic perspective in the Italian dailies. A discourse contrary to generating panic is common in the three countries studied, but with a clear underestimation of the virus’ potential consequences in the first couple of months a...