El Mundo

---

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL
Country: Spain (29/180 Press Freedom)
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Launched in 1989, by Pedro J. Ramírez, Alfonso de Salas, Balbino Fraga, and Juan González, El Mundo is a Spanish national daily newspaper based in Madrid, Spain. In 2014, the founding Editor of El Mundo Pedro Jose Ramirez stepped down due to his critical reporting of then the leader of Spain’s conservative People’s Party (PP) and the prime minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy (2011 to 2018). In 2018, Rajoy was ousted as Spain’s PM by a vote of no-confidence. 

El Mundo covers national and international news and politics, science, health, business, technology, sports, culture, and lifestyle.  El Mundo also has sister publications Marca (Sports newspaper) and Expansion (business newspaper). Unidad Editorial, S.A. is the publisher, and it is part of the Italian media conglomerate RCS MediaGroup. Antonio Fernández-Galiano is the President of Unidad Editorial, S.A. For more on the corporate directors, please see here. Currently, The Editor of El Mundo is Francisco Rosell.

Funded by / Ownership

El Mundo is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate Unidad Editorial, S.A, whose parent company is Italian media conglomerate RCS MediaGroup S.p.A.which is owned by Italian media tycoon Urbano Cairo. Cairo also is the chairman and chief executive of RCS MediaGroup. For more on RCS shareholders, please see here.  El Mundo’s revenue is derived through subscriptions and advertisements.  

Analysis / Bias

In 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked Spain 29/180 in their Press Freedom Index, cautioning a rise in far-right parties. The Prime Minister of Spain is officially called the “President of the Government” (Presidente del Gobierno). The current Prime Minister of Spain is Pedro Sánchez, who leans center-left.

Read our profile on Spain’s media and government.

El Mundo is known for generally supporting conservative political views and being center-right on the political spectrum. Nieman Reports states, “El Mundo despises the socialists and backs the governing conservative party, Partido Popular (PP).”

In review, El Mundo publishes articles with moderate emotionally loaded language such as “The left also puts the flag of Spain on Twitter “and “Iranian Vox funders are former terrorists rehabilitated by checkbook.” Vox is Spain’s far-right party. When it comes to sourcing, El Mundo mostly sources itself. However, international coverage such as “Vladimir Putin’s next challenge” utilizes both news agency material as well as foreign correspondents. In covering the USA, most articles are critical of the Trump administration, such as “100 hard days for Donald Trump.” In general, El Mundo reports news factually and with a right-leaning editorial bias.

Failed Fact Checks

• Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen’s final text to his wife admitted he was gay. – False

Overall, we rate El Mundo Right-Center biased based on story selection and editorial positions that slightly favor the right. We also rate them mostly factual in reporting rather than High due to poor sourcing techniques and a failed fact check. (M. Huitsing 7/27/2020) Updated (11/3/2021)

Source: https://www.elmundo.es/

Last Updated on November 3, 2021 by Media Bias Fact Check

Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources