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The Transition. Convergence and Discrepancy in the International and National Press Coverage of Spain’S Major Postwar International News Export1

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The Transition. Convergence and Discrepancy in the International and National Press Coverage of Spain’S Major Postwar International News Export1 THE TRANSITION. CONVERGENCE AND DISCREPANCY IN THE INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL PRESS COVERAGE OF SPAIN’S MAJOR POSTWAR INTERNATIONAL NEWS EXPORT1 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/RiHC.2018.i11.02 Recibido: 03/10/2018 Aceptado: 08/11/2018 Publicado: 15/12/2018 Christopher David Tulloch ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5476-0887 Universitat Pompeu Fabra, [email protected] Jaume Guillamet Lloveras ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8385-1588 Universitat Pompeu Fabra, [email protected] 1 Los resultados presentados en este artículo corresponden a los proyectos de investigación "Noticias Internacionales de España. la Transición" (CSO 2009-09655), "El papel de la prensa diaria en la Transición" (CSO 2012-36774) y "El papel de la prensa no diaria en la Transición" (CSO 2015-67752-P) Como citar este artículo: TULLOCH, Christopher David y GUILLAMET LLOVERAS, Jaume (2018): “The Transition. Convergence and discrepancy in the international and national press coverage of Spain’s major postwar international news export”, en Revista Internacional de Historia de la Comunicación, pp. 05-22. 5 Christopher David Tulloch y Jaume Guillamet Lloveras Resumen: El papel de la prensa nacional y extranjera en la cobertura informativa de la Transición española a la democracia (1975-1978) ha sido una referencia constante en la historiografía del período de cambio político en España tras el final de la dictadura de Franco, así como en la cultura periodística. En este artículo presentamos los resultados generales de tres proyectos de investigación sobre el papel de la prensa extranjera, de la prensa diaria española y de la prensa no diaria enlos que se pueden comprobar convergencias y discrepancias en el relato informativo, las valoraciones editoriales y los posicionamientos políticos. La mayor independencia y libertad informativa de la prensa extranjera contrasta con la proximidad de la prensa española al rey y al gobierno, con la excepción del apoyo crítico a la reforma de las nuevas revistas políticas y los diarios surgidos en los primeros meses del proceso de cambio político. Palabras clave: Transición española, corresponsales extranjeros, prensa diaria, revistas políticas, periodistas Abstract: The role of the national and foreign press in the news coverage of the Spanish transition to democracy (1975-1978) has been a constant reference in the historical study of the period of political change after the end of the Francoist dictatorship. In this article we present the general results of three research projects concerning the role of the foreign press, of the Spanish daily press and the magazine marketin which we can observe both convergence and discrepance in the news narrative, editorial behaviour and political standpoints. The greater independence and informative freedom of the foreign press contrasts with the proximity of the Spanish press to both King and government with the exception of the critical support to reform expressed in both the new political magazines and newspapers during the first few months of the process of political change. Keywords: Spanish Transition, foreign correspondents, daliy press, political magazines, journalists Introduction Transition studies is undoubtedly a growing field within international political science. Interested scholars can access key texts that cover the external stimulation of democracy and the context of regime transition (Pridham, 1991, McGrew 1997) along with comparative works concerning democratic regeneration in Latin America, South Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe (Filgueira and Nohlen 1994; Anderson, 1999; Jones 2001; Gross 2004; Voltmer 2006). In this sense, the post-Francoist Spanish transition to democracy is no exception as the abundant literature available on the subject illustrates (Carr and Fusi, 1993; Maravall 1982; Preston 1986; Clark and Haltzel 1987; Tuñon de Lara 1991; Tusell 1996, 1999; Soto 1998; Townson 2007). Within the wider field of transition studies, the role of the press in political change is itself an emerging field in journalism history studies. In that sense, the specific contribution of both the international press (Tulloch 2015; Guillamet 2016) and local journalists (Barrera, 1995; Revista internacional de Historia de la Comunicación, Nº11, Vol.1, año 2018, pp. 05-22 6 The Transition. Convergence and discrepancy in the international and national press coverage of Spain’s major postwar international news export Zugasti 2008, Quirosa-Cheyrouze 2009; Guillamet 2018) in the conquest of political liberties and the consolidation of a democratic system in Spain are salient examples of these press/power dynamics. This paper attempts to draw together preliminary conclusions regarding the three consecutive research projects led by the Journalism Research Group at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona focussed on the role of the international and national press as well as national and international weekly magazines during the Spanish transition to democracy in the late 1970s. The first project (2010-2012) focussed on the foreign correspondents and included field work in London, New York, Paris, Rome and the national archives as well as interviews with former journalists. Results were presented at IAMCR Durban 2012. The second project (2013-2015) shed light on the role of the national daily press and included exhaustive data retrieval and ethnographic work with leading journalists and politicians at the time, results of which were posted at IAMCR Montreal 2015. The third project (2016-2018) has worked on the political and general information magazines both in Spain and abroad. Some partial results of this Project were presented at IAMCR Leicester2016 and Cartagena de Indias 2017. The initial general results of this latest project –presented for the first time at IAMCR 2018- allow us to begin to draw across-the-board conclusions based on the results of all three studies. In order to attempt to extrapolate wider and cross-comparative ideas and given the limited nature of the space available, the authors discarded a lineal project-by-project approach in favour of an analysis of five key issues –the passing of Franco, the debut of King Juan Carlos, the first Suarez government, the legalization of the Spanish Communist Party and the result of the first free elections- which dominate the early part of the Transition (November 1975 to June 1977) and which are clearly and constantly present in the three fields of journalistic production –international press, local newspapers and magazines- under analysis here. 1 The Francoist legacy: condemned in the foreign press, respected on the pages of national dailies One of the most glaring discrepancies between the coverage of the international and the national press of the Spanish transition to democracy is their initial reaction to the Revista internacional de Historia de la Comunicación, Nº11, Vol.1, año 2018, pp. 05-22 7 Christopher David Tulloch y Jaume Guillamet Lloveras death of Franco and retrospective analysis of his regime. As a general rule, the foreign press takes no time in framing Francoism as undeniably negative and his dictatorship as the illegitimate continuity of the Civil War. The Italian press sets the tone. Less than 24 hours after his death, Alberto Viali in La Stampa refers to his rule as a “crazy, Nazi- style” dictatorship. Carles Casalegno in the same paper speaks of an end to “forty years of absolute power built on one million dead”. French daily Le Figaro openly doubts that the end of the dictatorship means the immediate beginning of freedom. Walter Haubrich, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) condemns Franco for his cruel attacks both on liberalism as well as communism. The Munich-based Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) writes that towards the end of his regime the “isolated dictator” had returned to his “fascist origins” and shown a genuine incapacity for preparing the arrival of a democracy. The New York Times (NYT) acuses Franco of committing “atrocious reprisals” and of governing through terror and its Spain correspondent Henry Giniger spoke of a man who “when in doubt, repressed”. The NYT editorial entitled “hated by many, loved by few”, published the day after Franco’s death, summarises the papers position. An interesting exception to the rule is the British press which shows itself to be more benevolent towards Franco. In spite of criticism regarding the nature and resistance to change of his regime both The Times and The Daily Telegraph speak of his successful military career, his independent stance during the Second World War and the prolonged period of peace and political stability enjoyed by Spain in recent decades. The latter even goes as far as saying that the Spanish people will suport Prince Juan Carlos because they are “anxious to conserve and construct the prosperity reached under the firm and stable government of Franco”. (Guillamet 2016: 47-49) For obvious reasons related to issues of censorship and press control –the 1966 Press Law is still firmly in place- and newsroom inertia of so many years of strict supervision, Spanish national newspapers offer a contesting portrayal of the legacy of Franco. In the days following his death, there is a tone of widespread approval for a regime normally couched in terms of the ‘modernization’ and ‘guarantee of national unity’ which his rule had represented. For Ya, ABC and to a slightly lesser extent, Informaciones, it is time for grieving and for the recognition of the figure of the dictator. The op-ed content during the first seven days following
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