El Mundo (Spain)

{{Infobox newspaper

| name = {{Lang|es|El Mundo}}

| logo = El Mundo logo.svg

| image = border

| caption = Front page, 1 June 2009

| type = Daily newspaper

| format = Compact

| foundation = {{start date and age|1989|10|23|df=yes}}, as {{Lang|es|El Mundo del Siglo Veinte}}

| ceased publication =

| owners = Unidad Editorial S.A.

| publisher =

| editor = Jorge de Esteban

| language = Spanish

| political = Centre-right[https://www.adfcpadreanchieta.com/uploads/1/7/3/1/17311346/l%C3%ADnea_editorial_de_algunos_peri%C3%B3dicos_espa%C3%B1oles_revisada.pdf Linea Editorial de algunos periódicos españoles] adfcpadreanchieta.com (in Spanish)

{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102121327/https://www.adfcpadreanchieta.com/uploads/1/7/3/1/17311346/l%C3%ADnea_editorial_de_algunos_peri%C3%B3dicos_espa%C3%B1oles_revisada.pdf |date=2 November 2020 }}

| circulation = 266,294 (2011)

| headquarters = Madrid, Spain

| sister newspapers = {{ubl|Marca|Expansión}}

| ISSN = 1697-0179

| website = {{URL|elmundo.es}}

| founder = {{ubl|Alfonso de Salas|Pedro J. Ramírez|Balbino Fraga|Juan González}}

| eISSN = 1697-0179

}}

{{Lang|es|El Mundo}} ({{IPA|es|el ˈmundo}}; {{lit|The World}}), before {{Lang|es|El Mundo del Siglo Veintiuno}}, is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. The paper is considered one of the country's newspapers of record along with El País and ABC.

History and profile

{{Lang|es|El Mundo}} was first published on 23 October 1989.{{cite journal|author1=José A. García Avilés|author2=Klaus Meier|author3=Andy Kaltenbrunner|author4=Miguel Carvajal|author5=Daniela Kraus|title=Newsroom integration in Austria, Spain and Germany|journal=Journalism Practice|date=2009|volume=3|issue=3|pages=285–303|doi=10.1080/17512780902798638|s2cid=142640530|doi-access=free|hdl=11000/4570|hdl-access=free}}{{cite book|author=Anna Galluzzi|title=Libraries and Public Perception: A Comparative Analysis of the European Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ10AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|access-date=24 November 2014|date=20 September 2014|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=978-1-78063-425-8|page=28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106225728/https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ10AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|archive-date=6 January 2016|url-status=live}} Perhaps the best known of its founders was Pedro J. Ramírez, who served as editor until 2014. Ramirez had risen to prominence as a journalist during the Spanish transition to democracy. The other founders, Alfonso de Salas, Balbino Fraga and Juan González, shared with Ramírez a background in Grupo 16, the publishers of the newspaper Diario 16. Alfonso de Salas, Juan Gonzales and Gregorio Pena also launched El Economista in 2006.{{cite web|title=El Economista|url=http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/source-information/1224051-el-economista|work=Presseurope|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516014723/http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/source-information/1224051-el-economista|archive-date=16 May 2013|url-status=live}}

{{Lang|es|El Mundo}}, along with Marca and Expansión, is controlled by the Italian publishing company RCS MediaGroup through its Spanish subsidiary company Unidad Editorial S.L.{{cite web|author1=Frank R. Baumgartner|author2=Laura Chaqués Bonafont|title=All News is Bad News: Newspaper Coverage of Political Parties in Spain|url=http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/PolComBadNews-2014.pdf|work=Political Communication|access-date=4 December 2014|year=2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207231741/http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/PolComBadNews-2014.pdf|archive-date=7 December 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Daily Press|url=http://www.unidadeditorial.com/publicidad/MediaBook/sumario%202013%20en.pdf|work=Unidad Editorial|access-date=31 January 2015|date=December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402064352/http://www.unidadeditorial.com/publicidad/MediaBook/sumario%202013%20en.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2014|url-status=live}} Its former owner was Unedisa which merged with Grupo Recoletos in 2007 to form Unidad Editorial, current owner of the paper.{{cite journal|author1=Laura Chaqués Bonafont|author2=Frank R. Baumgartner|title=Newspaper attention and policy activities in Spain|journal=Journal of Public Policy|date=April 2013|volume=33|issue=1|pages=65–88|doi=10.1017/S0143814X12000219|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0143814X12000219|access-date=24 April 2015|hdl=2445/49364|hdl-access=free|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414130912/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-public-policy/article/abs/newspaper-attention-and-policy-activities-in-spain/087C6017BF262160FD6D665E9EB91692|url-status=live}}

The paper has its headquarters in Madrid, but maintains several news bureaus in other cities. The daily has a national edition and ten different regional editions,{{cite journal|author1=Donn James Tilson|author2=Pilar Saura Pérez|title=Public relations and the new golden age of Spain: a confluence of democracy, economic development and the media|journal=Public Relations Review|date=2003|volume=29|url=http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0363811103000183/1-s2.0-S0363811103000183-main.pdf?_tid=17f7128e-e34a-11e4-9b97-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1429086989_568eae8309ab91e2924b4c8e2a3d3eef|access-date=24 April 2015}} including those for Andalusia, Valencia, Castile and León, the Balearic Islands and Bilbao. It is published in tabloid format.{{cite journal|author1=Jesús del-Olmo-Barbero|author2=Sonia Parratt-Fernández|title=Typography and colour: A comparative analysis of the free and paid-for newspapers in Spain|journal=Revista Latina de Comunicacion Social|date=2011|issue=66|url=http://www.revistalatinacs.org/11/art/938_Complutense/17_DelolmoEN.html|access-date=23 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924090528/http://www.revistalatinacs.org/11/art/938_Complutense/17_DelolmoEN.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}

In 2005 {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} started a supplement for women, Yo Dona, which was modelled on IO Donna, a supplement of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.{{cite news|title=El Mundo – new readership record|url=http://www.osp-uk.com/OliverSmith/osp.nsf/ArchivedNewsInFrame/82226621899D9EE680256FEE00524DCC?OpenDocument|access-date=24 April 2015|work=OSP|date=25 April 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106225728/http://www.osp-uk.com/OliverSmith/osp.nsf/ArchivedNewsInFrame/82226621899D9EE680256FEE00524DCC?OpenDocument|archive-date=6 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}

In January 2014 Pedro J. Ramírez, editor of the paper, was fired from his post.{{cite news|title=Spain's press freedom under fire in US media|url=http://www.thelocal.es/20140203/spains-press-freedom-under-fire-in-us-media|access-date=1 January 2015|work=The Local|date=3 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101214527/http://www.thelocal.es/20140203/spains-press-freedom-under-fire-in-us-media|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author1=Ashifa Kassam|title=Media revolution in Spain as readers search for new voices|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/25/media-revolution-spain-readers-new-voices|access-date=1 January 2015|work=The Guardian|date=25 March 2014|location=Madrid|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101214531/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/25/media-revolution-spain-readers-new-voices|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=live}} He argued that reporting on corruption scandals involving Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy led to his sacking. Casimiro García-Abadillo served as editor until April 2015, when he was replaced in turn by David Jiménez.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/business/media/ousted-el-mundo-editor-assails-government.html?_r=0|title=Founding Editor is Dismissed as Head of El Mundo|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 February 2014|access-date=7 April 2014|author=Raphael Minder|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305030613/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/business/media/ousted-el-mundo-editor-assails-government.html?_r=0|archive-date=5 March 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.es/television/2015/04/30/55425cc622601d256e8b4586.html|title=El Consejo de Administración...|access-date=1 May 2015|date=2015-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501132557/http://www.elmundo.es/television/2015/04/30/55425cc622601d256e8b4586.html|archive-date=1 May 2015|url-status=live}}

Editorial stance

Editorially, {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} often expresses the mainstream views of the centre-right{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1851334,00.html|title=At Last, Spain Faces Up to Franco's Guilt|magazine=Time|author=Lisa Abend|date=17 October 2008|access-date=22 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021074244/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1851334,00.html|archive-date=21 October 2008|url-status=dead}} with independent and liberal overtones.{{Cite web|url = https://www.carlosgonzalo.es/el-perfil-ideologico-de-los-medios-de-prensa-espanoles/|title = El perfil ideológico de los medios de prensa españoles|date = 3 March 2016|access-date = 9 July 2021|archive-date = 9 July 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190036/https://www.carlosgonzalo.es/el-perfil-ideologico-de-los-medios-de-prensa-espanoles/|url-status = live}}

El Mundo defines its editorial line as liberal. It is usually critical of the left-wing and peripheral nationalisms. Its current ideology is secular center-right. Among its columnists there is a remarkable heterogeneity and eclecticism, often openly critical of the editorial line itself. At the time it was decisive in the fall of Felipe González.

According to its ideological principles, “it aspires to be a progressive newspaper, committed to defending the current democratic system, public freedoms and human rights included in the Universal Declaration promulgated by the UN and in the European Convention of Human Rights."{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/unidadeditorial/principiosideologicos.html|title=EL MUNDO | Documentos | Grupo Unidad Editorial | Principios ideológicos|website=www.elmundo.es|access-date=9 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185900/https://www.elmundo.es/sociedad/unidadeditorial/principiosideologicos.html|url-status=live}}

=Political impact=

{{Lang|es|El Mundo}} has played a key role in uncovering a number of scandals, among them embezzlement by the commander of the Guardia Civil, accusations of insider trading and tax fraud by the governor of the Central Bank of Spain and aspects of the Bárcenas affair.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/el-mundo-pedro-j-ramirez-departure-spain|title=All hail Pedro J Ramírez, Spain's crown prince of muckraking|work=The Observer|date=2014|access-date=4 May 2014|author=Preston, Peter|author-link=Peter Preston|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327080558/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/el-mundo-pedro-j-ramirez-departure-spain|archive-date=27 March 2014|url-status=live}} Investigative reporting by the staff of {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} also revealed connections between the terrorist Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL) and the Socialist administration of Felipe González, revelations that contributed to his defeat in the 1996 elections.

In October 2005, {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} revealed that Nazi Aribert Heim (aka "Doctor Death") had been living in Spain for 20 years, probably with help from the ODESSA network, in collaboration with Otto Skorzeny, who had helped set up one of the most important ODESSA bases of operation in Spain, during the rule of Francisco Franco.{{cite news|title=Report: Nazi 'Doctor Death' Has Been Hiding in Spain Since 1985|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-nazi-doctor-death-has-been-hiding-in-spain-since-1985-1.172825|publisher=Haaretz|date=30 October 2005|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118031237/http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-nazi-doctor-death-has-been-hiding-in-spain-since-1985-1.172825|archive-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live}}

After the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, the newspapers {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} and La Razón, the regional television channel Telemadrid and the COPE radio network alleged that there had been inconsistencies in the explanations given by the Spanish judiciary about the bombings. Other Spanish media, such as El País, ABC and the Cadena SER radio network, accused {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} and the other media of manipulation over this issue. The bombings and the results of the subsequent judicial inquiry are still debated in Spain today.{{Cite web|url=http://en.lacerca.com/news/espana/words_attributed_psoe_arenas_11_aznar-75296-1.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713180745/http://en.lacerca.com/news/espana/psoe_attributes_words_arenas_11_aznar-75296-1.html|url-status=dead|title=Lacerca|archivedate=13 July 2011}}

Circulation

The circulation of {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} rose in the 1990s. It was

209,992 copies in 1993
268,748 copies in 1994{{cite web |title=Facts of Spain |url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~rquin001/factsspain.html |work=Florida International University |access-date=23 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621080435/http://www2.fiu.edu/~rquin001/factsspain.html |archive-date=21 June 2013 |df=dmy }}
68,813 copies in 2020

In 2001 {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} had a circulation of 291,000 copies{{cite news|author=Adam Smith|title=Europe's Top Papers|url=http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/164161/|access-date=7 February 2015|work=campaign|date=15 November 2002|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313014847/https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/european-newspapers-europes-top-papers/164161|url-status=live}} and it was 312,366 copies next year.{{cite web|author=David Ward|title=A Mapping Study of Media Concentration and Ownership in Ten European Countries|url=http://77.87.161.246/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/A-Mapping-Study-of-Media-Concentration-and-Ownership-in-Ten-European-Countries.pdf|work=Dutch Media Authority|access-date=12 December 2014|year=2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203318/http://77.87.161.246/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/A-Mapping-Study-of-Media-Concentration-and-Ownership-in-Ten-European-Countries.pdf|archive-date=12 August 2014|url-status=live}} The paper had a circulation of 300,000 copies in 2003, making it the third best selling newspaper in the country.{{cite journal|author=Roland Schroeder|title=Interactive Info Graphics in Europe-- added value to online mass media: a preliminary survey|journal=Journalism Studies|date=2004|volume=5|issue=4|pages=563–570|doi=10.1080/14616700412331296473|s2cid=144687383}}

Based on the findings of the European Business Readership Survey {{Lang|es|El Mundo}} had 11,591 readers per issue in 2006.{{cite book|author=Craig Carroll|title=Corporate Reputation and the News Media: Agenda-setting Within Business News Coverage in Developed, Emerging, and Frontier Markets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2iNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|access-date=31 January 2015|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-25244-1|page=177|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106133118/https://books.google.com/books?id=F2iNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|archive-date=6 January 2016|url-status=live}} Its circulation between June 2006 and July 2007 was 337,172 copies.{{cite book|author1=Andrea Czepek|author2=Melanie Hellwig|author3=Eva Nowak|title=Press Freedom and Pluralism in Europe: Concepts and Conditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZHATHfMo7gC&pg=PA275|access-date=12 December 2014|year=2009|publisher=Intellect Books|isbn=978-1-84150-243-4|page=280|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106133118/https://books.google.com/books?id=nZHATHfMo7gC&pg=PA275|archive-date=6 January 2016|url-status=live}} The 2007 circulation of the paper was 337,000 copies. It was 338,286 copies in 2008{{cite book|author=Alan Albarran|title=Handbook of Spanish Language Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4uOPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|access-date=29 October 2014|date=10 September 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-85430-0|page=25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106133118/https://books.google.com/books?id=4uOPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|archive-date=6 January 2016|url-status=live}} and had 200,000 readers for the printed edition in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2009/10/elmundoes_launches_americas_edition.php|title=elmundo.es launches Americas edition|work=Editors Weblog|date=27 October 2009|access-date=6 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306031100/http://www.editorsweblog.org/web_20/2009/10/elmundoes_launches_americas_edition.php|archive-date=6 March 2012|url-status=live}} The circulation of the paper was 266,294 copies in 2011.[http://www.ojd.es/OJD/Portal/diarios_ojd/_4DOSpuiQo1Y_FOivPcLIIA Figures covering July 2010 to June 2011 from Spain's] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429094834/http://www.ojd.es/OJD/Portal/diarios_ojd/_4DOSpuiQo1Y_FOivPcLIIA |date=29 April 2011 }}, Oficina de Justificación de la Difusión. Retrieved 28 January 2012. In April 2020 the newspaper had 51,526 readers of the printed edition.{{Cite web|title=OJD: El País cae por debajo de los 100.000 ejemplares y ABC supera a El Mundo en ventas|url=https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/medios/20200303/pais-debajo-ejemplares-abc-supera-mundo-ventas/471953621_0.html|date=2020-03-03|website=El Español|language=es-ES|access-date=2020-05-12|archive-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305212945/https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/medios/20200303/pais-debajo-ejemplares-abc-supera-mundo-ventas/471953621_0.html|url-status=live}}

=Digital readership=

{{Lang|es|El Mundo}} (elmundo.es) is currently the second digital newspaper in Spanish.{{Cite news |url=http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/11/22/actualidad/1479853627_478107.html |title=El País el periódico digital en español más leído del mundo |newspaper=El Pais |year=2016 |language=es |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124133420/http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/11/22/actualidad/1479853627_478107.html |archive-date=24 November 2016 |url-status=live }} It was previously in the lead after {{Lang|es|El País}} introduced a payment system for access to the contents of its electronic version. It had 24 million unique web visitors per month in 2009.

Many online readers are in Latin America, and the website has an edition for the Americas. However, digital expansion has done little to offset the decline in revenues from Spanish advertisers since 2008.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/opinion/in-spain-fired-for-speaking-out.html|title=Fired for speaking out|newspaper=New York Times|date=2014|access-date=26 December 2014|author=Ramirez|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226132704/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/opinion/in-spain-fired-for-speaking-out.html|archive-date=26 December 2014|url-status=live}}

The newspaper aims to increase digital profits via a subscription model.{{cite news|title='El Mundo' establece un modelo de pago en su web similar al del 'New York Times'|url=http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/comunicacion/2013/11/04/mundo_establece_modelo_pago_web_similar_del_new_york_times_255561_311.html|agency=Europa Press|publisher=Heraldo de Aragón|date=4 November 2013|language=es|access-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202081222/http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/comunicacion/2013/11/04/mundo_establece_modelo_pago_web_similar_del_new_york_times_255561_311.html|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}} It launched a current affairs outlet only accessible to subscription customers, named ORBYT.