Semiotic Analysis of Hate Discourse in Spanish Digital News Media: Biden's Inauguration Case Study

Abstract

This study analyzes hate in Spanish digital media from a semiotic standpoint by focusing on the coverage and discourse of Joe Biden's inauguration as the US President in January 2021 by El País, La Vanguardia, ABC, El Mundo, and 20Minutos in Spain on the X platform. The event drew significant attention from international and Spanish media. A qualitative investigation was conducted on the interactions, denotations, connotations, and semiosis related to hate in the Spanish media and their followers. The analysis, which is based on a semiotic matrix from Greimas and Courtés (1979), Greimas (1976), Barthes (1970), Kristeva (1969), and Lyotard (1979/2019), and was developed by the authors, covered 661 news items and 721 literal fragments and generated 2,074 interactions for examination. This study offers a semiotic framework for understanding how hate expressions are constructed and disseminated in digital media. It is crucial to recognize the narrative structures that promote the dissemination of hate expression in news content published by digital media on social media platforms. A scenario emerges in which fear, politically charged expressions, and terms aimed at accusing, discrediting, or undervaluing the recipients of such messages become tools for spreading content. Therefore, digital news media must review their content moderation practices to better manage the discussions generated concerning the news that they publish in the current digital landscape. This landscape is dominated not only by hostility rather than violence toward social groups represented by news protagonists but also by people who are used to promoting narratives filled with stereotypes and prejudices through dehumanization or demonization.