Spain’s Media Crisis, in figures
11,875 2,412 Number of media jobs cut in Spain between 2008 and 2014.
Number of cuts in 2014 alone (20% of 6-year total).
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND In addition to the above set of direct press freedom challenges, several other issues related to the practice of journalism in Spain were raised frequently in the delegation’s conversations. The delegation believes that it is important to briefly describe these issues so as to properly contextualise the Spanish media landscape, and subsequently, press freedom in Spain. a. Economic crisis IPI arrived in Spain at a moment in which the country’s media industry continues to suffer the aftermath of what one prominent journalist, called a “tsunami” combined with an “earthquake”. The former refers to radical changes in consumer habits brought about by the rise of the
25% Decrease in number of working journalists between 2008 and 2014.
Internet that have challenged traditional media models across Western Europe. The latter refers to the global economic crisis, which has had a particularly devastating impact on Spain. These twin crises have wreaked havoc on the journalistic profession in Spain. According to a Dec. 2014 report1 published by the Madrid Association of Journalists (APM), in partnership with the Federation of Press Associations of Spain (FAPE), the Association of Journalists of Journalists and the Catalonian Union of Journalists, at least 11,875 media positions were cut between 2008 and 2014. 2,412 of those cuts, or 20% of the six-year total, took place in 2014 alone. Furthermore, in a survey of over 2,000 journalists conducted for the report, 85 percent of respondents said they had experienced salary cuts at their media outlet in 2014. Additionally, Jan. 2015 data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) show that a total of 82,545 persons currently work as journalists in Spain, a staggering 25 percent decrease from 2008, when the economic crisis first broke. The picture appears to have stabilised since Feb. 2014, with a slight increase of approximately 1,000 journalists between then and the end of 2014.
Members of the international delegation, including IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi (second from L) meet with representatives of FAPE and APM in Madrid. Pablo Vazquez/APM.
These are sombre figures. In a joint meeting with the IPIled delegation, representatives of both APM and FAPE were unequivocal in stating that the economic crisis, and
In a joint meeting with the IPI-led delegation, representatives of both the Madrid Press Association (APM) and the Federation of Press Associations of Spain (FAPE were unequivocal in stating that the economic crisis, and above all the “precarious” employment situation faced by journalists, constituted by far the most significant challenge to exercise of journalism in Spain. The State of Press Freedom in Spain: 2015 n International Mission Report
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