The menu of the media campaign: hatred or fear

The latest polls suggest that Alberto Núñez Feijóo will be able to govern with Vox, but he will likely do so while losing a significant number of seats, which is an obvious personal failure. The right-wing media that, despite everything, are wary of Abascal's party, are now trying to hit the brakes and help the conservative candidate, after having fed the beast throughout the entire legislative term. This explains the front page of Abc this Friday, the first day of the campaign, where a large photograph of Alberto Núñez Feijóo shaking hands with Jordi Wild is featured along with the headline “A campaign with new rules”. All of this, clearly, is an excuse to emphasize that the PP leader allowed himself to be examined by the youtuber, while Abascal cancelled his commitment with strange and flimsy excuses. Feijóo also features on the front page of La Razón, which is also very close to him, but not on that of El Mundo. And it is no coincidence: the newspaper most skewed towards Vox's positions prefers not to inflate the expectations of the conservatives and opts for a photograph on its front page of none other than Begoña López. That is to say, the enemy. Once again, the newspaper stands as an example of emotional media that moves its readers not with the strength of information or arguments, but with hate. Because this, and no other, is the reaction they want to incite in their readers when they paint their front page socialist red. If you don't go, they stay.

On the other side, El País headlines “PP and Vox begin the campaign with a comfortable majority”. It is more subtle, but it is also an appeal to sentiment, in this case, fear. Spain has traditionally been a country with a social majority on the left. Attempting to mobilize them –and, by God, or by Marx, it will be difficult, looking at the scene– is the only option progressivism has to try to avoid a turn in the State government that is predicted to be something more than a simple alternation.