RT Journal Article
T1 No people, no news: news deserts and areas at risk in Spain
A1 Negreira Rey, María Cruz
A1 Vázquez Herrero, Jorge
A1 López García, Xosé
K1 Critical information needs
K1 Depopulation
K1 Digital media
K1 Local journalism
K1 News deserts
K1 Spain
AB In recent decades Spain has suffered a gradual process of depopulation and exodus from rural areas to large capitals. The España Vaciada political and social movement denounces the country’s territorial inequality, while the government is working on a strategic plan to address the demographic challenge. At the media level, there is concern about citizens’ access to a local and quality journalistic service, key to the strengthening of communities and their democratic functioning. The main objective of this research is to explore the phenomenon of news deserts in Spain, identifying the areas that can be considered news deserts and those that are at risk of becoming so, based on the mapping of digital media in the country. The characteristics of the digital media of the autonomous communities with the highest presence of news deserts are studied to ascertain whether the risk factors of population or richness index are connected to their appearance. The results reveal that 6,304 (77.53%) Spanish municipalities can be considered news deserts, inhabited by 11.6 million people, 24.51% of the country’s total population. In addition, another 523 municipalities are at risk of becoming news deserts. In the regions with the largest number of news deserts, there is a clear concentration of media in the main capitals and a weak ecosystem of local and hyperlocal media. Depopulation is the main risk factor in the loss of media and news coverage in local communities
PB Cogitatio Press
YR 2023
FD 2023-09-28
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/31004
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/31004
LA eng
NO Negreira-Rey, M., Vázquez-Herrero, J., & López-García, X. (2023). No People, No News: News Deserts and Areas at Risk in Spain. Media and Communication, 11(3), 293-303. doi:https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6727
NO This article is part of the R&D project Digital‐Native Media in Spain: Strategies, Competencies, Social Involvementand (Re)Definition of Practices in Journalistic Production and Diffusion (PID2021–122534OB‐C21), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/and by “ERDF A way of making Europe.”
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026