Negative campaigning. Comparative analysis of the hate speech broadcast by Catalonian political leaders on their official Twitter accounts and television

This research aims to shed light on the phenomenon of negative campaigning in the current Spanish political and media landscape. The main objective is to find significant variations in hate speech according to the degree of control that politicians are able to exert in diverse media. To this end, an analysis has been carried out regarding the totality of criticism that Catalonian political leaders issued in the three televised election debates, as well as in the original publications of their official twitter accounts during the Catalonian election campaign of 14 February 2021. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to confirm the presence of determinants related to ideology and posturing in the government prior to the elections analysed, as well as in the broadcast of those attacks. This study has used a quantitative-qualitative content analysis methodology with a coding sheet composed of five variables related to analysing the negative campaigning. lhe most significant findings not only show a much more critical tone used by candidates in the debates when compared to the microblogging network, but they also highlight the digital platform as a means of discrediting the personal traits of political opponents to a greater extent.