Terrorism in the Basque press (1990, 2000, 2008 and 2009). Analysis of newspaper editorials about ETA’s fatal attacks

This article presents an analysis of the editorials published by the Basque press in 1990, 2000, 2008 and 2009, when ETA carried out fatal attacks. The objective is to examine the treatment given by the different Basque newspapers to terrorism in their most important opinion texts, which reflect their ideology. The initial hypothesis is that the editorial line used by the Basque press to address ETA’s attacks has changed remarkably during the analysed years, going from the virtual absence of editorials to the use of editorials as active instruments in the fight against violence. By 2009, the Basque press had finally defined its strategy to combat ETA’s terrorism, and this was perfectly reflected in their editorials.