El cese de la violencia como 'bad news': la cobertura del fin de ETA en la prensa vasca y española.

The Basque separatist organization ETA announced the cessation of its armed campaign on October 20, 2011. It was the main cover story in all Basque and Spanish newspapers. It was the long awaited definitive end of a 40-year-long violent campaign, but it was not framed as good news in all the media. This article studies how the Basque and Spanish press reported the process leading to the end of ETA's campaign. For that purpose, we have selected seven newspapers, four editedin the Basque Country (El Correo, Deia, Gara and Berria) and three edited in Madrid (El País, El Mundo and Abc), and analyzed how they reported ten significant events that occurred from 2009 to 2011, chosen for their significance in the process. In a qualitative study carried out through discourse analysis and framing theory, we have examined and compared the headlines and news stories of the sample. The study reflects that the editorial line of each media organization regarding the Basque conflict entirely conditioned the perspective from which each one reported the events leading to the end of ETA's campaign. There is a significant difference in the media coverage provided by the Basque and Spanish newspapers. Most Basque newspapers framed the events related to the end of ETA in the context of a desirable peace process. Some influential Spanish media, in contrast, framed these events as if the cessation of violence was an undesirable outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]