Los sondeos como género periodístico y su utilización en la prensa actual: el caso de El Mundo y El País

Abstract

The polls take part in the informative speech all along the year and they are a basic tool to permanently structure the citizenship, so that the preferences and attitudes can be known in detail. One of the most visible effects of their importance is that they constitute a platform representing public opinion as well as playing an important role in political communication. That is the reason why they have great repercussion in the press visibly for journalists, politicians and part of the citizenship. The main goal of this research paper is to analyze the treatment the media apply to the polls and to know the relevance and presence they have in journalistic speech. For the development of this investigation we use quantitative methodology based on contents analysis. The sample is divided into two aspects: we recount the number of opinion surveys published during the years 2003 and 2013 in El País newspaper; we examine and compare four examples of public surveys published in El País and El Mundo daily newspapers during the period 2012 – 2013. The results obtained from the analysis show that this kind of publications have intensified their presence in the media speech throughout the years until being integrated in the journalistic routines with a particular usage method.