Board of Examiners:

SAIZ GARCIA M. DOLORES (Chairperson)
URRUTIA ABAIGAR VICTOR MANUEL (Member)
RODRIGO ALSINA MIGUEL (Member)
ARMENTIA VIZUETE JOSE IGNACIO (Member)
MORA TEMPRANO M. ANGELES (Secretary)

Descriptors:

POLITICAL SCIENCE
PUBLIC OPINION
PRESS
SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND CONFLICTS
SOCIOLOGY

TERRORISM

Summary:

The thesis "The Journalistic Treatment of ETA from 1964 to 1975" constitutes a historic piece of research work into the information given about ETA in the written press under the authoritarian regime of General Franco, at a time when the media in general was under strict political control.
The research is based on the new times in terms of news that marked that decade. Those times have been chosen according to the space given, the split with previous journalistic behaviour, and the importance of the reported event.
The texts are then analyzed in qualitative and quantitative terms, mainly in three daily newspapers - "El Correo Español. El Pueblo Vasco", "ABC", and "La Vanguardia Española" - in so doing, discovering the discourse used and checking the fundamental hypothesis: manipulation by the powers-that-be of information about ETA, resulting in a failed aim and ultimately leading to its reinforcement and survival.
The conclusions identify three phases throughout the period:

• I: Informative manipulation about ETA builds it up as an adversary by distorting the reality of the situation.
• II. Once it has become established as a real adversary, this favours its inclusion as a news item.
• III. The powers-that-be silence the press in September 1975 in view of the consequences brought about by ETA, now constituting a major threat. The manipulation of information turns out to be adversary to the regime.