The treatment of scientific information in the digital editions of Spanish newspapers

The treatment of scientific information is analysed in the digital edition of the most-read newspapers in Spain: El pais, El mundo, ABC and 20 minutos in December 2012, 2013 and 2014. The subject of inquiry is the published news, of which the quantity has been determined, the sources identified, and each issue categorized by the area of science to which it refers. The data obtained leads to the conclusion that the online editions, rather than overcoming the disadvantages of homogenisation and selectivity, have accentuated them. Biology and biomedicine, along with astrophysics, are the most high-profile areas. Furthermore, they rely fundamentally on two types of source: high-impact journals and research centres, most of them international.