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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
European Representations of the Basque Sovereignist Plan
Cristina Perales*, Ludivine Thouverez**, Laura Filardo***
*University of Vic, Spain
**Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
***University of Valladolid, Spain
Abstract
This paper will analyse the national and international representation on the media of
the only statutory and sovereignty-based proposal within democratic Spain, known as
“Ibarretxe Plan”. This proposal was discussed in Parliament on February 1, 2005, and it
was arranged around 10 issues, which eventually proposed a new political pact within
the Spanish state. We will study those media representations of the Ibarretxe Plan
which can be found in the most important newspapers of Spain, France and the British
Isles between January 31 and February 6, 2005. In this research the media are
understood as political actors whose actions have an influence on how conflicts evolve.
This can be done by means of the (de)legitimisation of both the discursively implied
participants and the actions done by them. A Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
approach will be followed in order to uncover how ideological beliefs are spread and
whether they are dependent on power abuse by any of the selected newspapers.
Keywords: discourse, journalism, press, Ibarretxe Plan, sovereignty, critical discourse
analysis.
The Parliamentary debate that took place in Madrid after a new Political Statute of
Autonomy was proposed for the Basque Country in 2005 has been extremely important
for Euskadi’s political life–the 2009 regional electoral campaign is an example of this.
Nevertheless, the media have not reported much about its contents, basically
presenting it as unconstitutional and antidemocratic.
This research derives from the idea that media are political actors (Borrat, 1989) whose
actions influence the evolution of conflicts by means of a (de)legitimation process of
political participants, their actions, and their discourses. To prove this, 79 articles taken
from six different newspapers - El País, El Mundo, Libération, Le Monde, The Irish
Times and The Guardian – have been analysed, and a polarization strategy has been
found in their generally-slanted description of the Ibarretxe plan, which is usually
contested on the grounds of its unconstitutional status. This shows the key role of
these newspapers in spreading a social representation which stems from the
ideological beliefs that can be found within them (Van Dijk, 1996).
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