326 | nº 31, pp. 315-340 | doxa.comunicación
July-December of 2020
Analysis of the discursive framing strategies used in Spanish press headlines regarding the electoral coverage...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
[Image 3].Photograph of a tweet by Santiago Abascal published by OK Diario.
Source: OK Diario.
Image available at: https://okdiario.com/espana/divertido-tuit-resumen-abascal-sobre-debate-tve-4018915. (Last search: 14/06/2020)
According to Gallardo Paúls (2021 in press), the principle of predictability also underlies the design of some of the interactive framing strategies. However, in the texts of our corpus, a breach with the expectations of the reader is often pursued in order to dramatically grab the lector’s attention:
[Ex. 23]. As stated by Errejón, the Game of Thrones critic for El Español: “Vox would bring Daenerys back to the house to scrub the floors” (El Español, 23/04/2019)
Likewise, by observing the discontinuous statements of these headlines, one can see how El Confidencial seems to give news prominence to some information that might surprise its audience:
[Ex. 24]. The bets give the same options to Sánchez and Casado... and Abascal is third (El Confidencial, 24/04/2019)
[Ex. 25]. The business world believes the PSOE will win the elections... and Vox surpasses Ciudadanos (El Confidencial, 22/04/2019).
The information in parentheses also contributes to this effect, as in the following headlines:
[Ex. 26]. The Moors who ‘liberated’ Covadonga in 1937 (which Vox and Abascal prefer to ignore) (El Confidencial, 21/04/2019)
[Ex. 27]. Vox is the party that generates the most enthusiasm on social networks (and without advertising) (El País, 25/04/2019)
In the first of these, El Confidencial uses parentheses to show its dissociative attitude toward the ideological position of Vox. El País also uses parentheses to introduce an explanatory statement, but one should consider whether its purpose is merely to assess this particular achievement by Santiago Abascal’s party or whether such headlines could be seen as a strategy by this media to warn readers of the rising tides of votes for the extreme right, something to which the other texts that resort to dialogism might also contribute, as in the following examples:
[Ex. 28]. The international press warns of the possible rise of Vox and political instability after 28 April (El País, 25/04/2019)
[Ex. 29]. Sánchez warns of Vox’s influence and rejects concessions to secessionism (El País, 23/04/2019)