The coverage of the Catalan conflict and nationalism in the Danish newspaper Politiken

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the coverage of Catalan issues such as nationalism and secessionism and of the relationship and conflict between Catalonia and Spain in the Danish daily newspaper Politiken. The article focuses on what is published about Catalan identity, Catalan nationalism and its conflict with Spain, how it is published and, finally, why it is published in a Danish quality newspaper over a time period of five years (January 2008–December 2012). The analysis of the newspaper articles is complemented with in-depth interviews with four journalists at Politiken. The main conclusion of this research is that the contents relating to Catalan issues are dealt with in in-depth articles and reports providing context to their readers from a point of view neither predominantly Spanish nor Catalan.