Polarization and Spectacle in the Spanish Political Talk Show ‘La Sexta Noche’ During the 2019 European Elections

Abstract

This article analyses how in the main political talk show on television in Spain, La Sexta Noche, the main themes of the European agenda were silenced or conditioned by the themes of the national, regional and local agenda during the last European elections. The media debate was oriented towards an analysis of the results of national elections and the campaign for regional and local elections that allowed for a greater spectacle, thanks to the shock effect of such polarized ideologies and the trivialization of national politics. This research has studied all the shows of the programme broadcast as of the national elections on 28th April 2019 up until the European elections held on 26th May 2019, analysing the main topics covered and the kind and tone of discourses made. Due to the fact that controversial political issues are preferred to more relevant ones in order to generate a spectacle and bigger audiences, the results indicate that the political talk show analysed contributes to the trivialization of debates and the impoverishment of public space, aided by formal elements inherent in the infotainment genre.