Elections in Spain: battlefield or unstable building? Analysis of the metaphors and resulting frameworks used by the general press during the May 2015 election period

Abstract

The article analyzes critically the journalistic discourse deployed during the electoral process of May 2014. The first objective is to identify the metaphors used, then to outline the resulting frameworks and finally to suggest possible consequences on the political culture of the country. The central theme, although not exclusive, about this research is the presence of new parties in the electoral space. As a result, appear two main constituents of the media discourse: the framework of the building or the engineering, and the military framework. As a consequence of the first one, policy is seen as a field vetoed to inexperienced people. The second one prescribes the equation between political rival and enemy that must be defeated in a logic of everything or nothing, eliminating any hint of plurality.