Content analysis

Objective criteria were used to select the media. The ranking of generalist digital newspapers compiled by Comscore was taken into account. Of the 10 most read generalist digital newspapers in Spain in 2019, 6 digital newspapers have been selected, of which four are the newspapers positioned at the top of the audience ranking according to Comscore (elpais.com, elmundo.es, la vanguardia.com and abc.es) and the two best positioned digital natives in the ranking (elespañol.com and elconfidencial.com).

The time frame of the news published in these newspapers is from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2020, using the specialised search engine MyNews and the term "trafficking of human beings". The information units extracted from the above-mentioned search were 795 news items. After eliminating repeated news items and discarding those texts in which the term was only mentioned, but did not form part of the central theme of the news item, the sample was of 449 news items.

Based on the selected news items, the information was coded according to the content analysis sheet. This sheet includes the following variables and categories:

• Media (lavanguardia.com, abc.es, elpais.com, elmundo.es, elespanol.com and elconfidencial.es).

• Types of human trafficking (sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, organ trafficking/extraction, forced marriages, begging, trafficking for forced criminal activities and unspecified).

• News item topic (police, judicial, politics, culture/society, other).

• Author of the news item (with identification of the author, without identification of the author).

• Type of sources (police, civil guard, judicial, NGOs, governmental, victims' testimonies, political parties, trade unions, media/journalists, news agencies and others).

In accordance with the above categories, the information was quantified by means of an analysis of frequencies (absolute and percentage) of occurrence.

Semi-structured interviews

Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted: Five with media professionals (journalists). The sample selection criterion was their extensive experience in the profession and in covering the phenomenon of trafficking of human beings. Initially, 12 journalists were selected (two per media outlet), five of whom expressed their willingness to be interviewed. Two interviews with NGO leaders were also made. The criterion for selection was the extent of their track record in the fight against, and assistance to victims of, human trafficking from a human rights perspective.

The script for the interviews with journalists was structured with a total of 14 questions grouped into three dimensions:

• Dynamics of the media's work: the process of news production and the sources of information used by the journalists interviewed.

• Approach to the treatment of the news: knowledge and use of the action guides for the media drawn up by specialist bodies in the field.

• Assessment of the current work and aspects for improvement in the treatment of the news: assessment of the informative treatment of human trafficking in the media in Spain and the improvements that should be made to tackle the phenomenon, from a general approach and from the media itself.

For the interviews with NGOs, another script was developed with a total of 10 questions grouped into three other dimensions:

• Contextualisation of trafficking in human beings in the media: assessment of the media's approach to trafficking in human beings; the role played by the media in making the phenomenon visible and raising awareness, and the evolution of the media's treatment of news on the subject.

• Media and NGOs: relationship between the media and NGOs, the latter as sources of specialised information; existing working dynamics between the two actors.

News production

When dealing with a news item on human trafficking, journalists state that the process is the same as for the elaboration of any other news item, with the media receiving the information "in a packaged manner" through a press call, press conference, conferences or reports, or through an "active search" for this type of information. The latter, which is also called "proactive", is the one that comes from the professional or the media itself to cover certain information or a certain aspect of trafficking.

However, all journalists agree on the scarce coverage given to human trafficking, which is dealt with at specific moments that coincide with specific dates. Therefore, human trafficking is not incorporated into the media's agenda as an ongoing issue. Among the reasons mentioned in the interviews, is its lack of presence in the political agenda, which, together with the lack of interest on the part of the media, results in a lack of attention from media professionals on this issue. Also, relevancy factors are involved in the decision to publish an article or not. One of them is related to the emotion or human interest of the information, as well as personal stories to stir people' consciences.

Another of the factors is the novelty of the news item, and finally, there is the criteria of accessibility. If the journalist can obtain information easily, they are more likely to consider writing a story than if they find it very difficult to access details or sources. According to the content analysis carried out, of the news items in which the sources appear, almost six out of ten sources that appear in the media when reporting on human trafficking belong to the State Security Forces and Corps.

The National Police and Civil Guard, as well as government agencies, provide information mainly through press releases and press conferences. Their presence as a source is evidently much greater than that of any other group, due to the fact that for some journalists it is the "most fluent and constant relationship" (E4). However, despite this relationship with the sources, it is not always easy to make the phenomenon visible because, for some interviewees, "the police are very reserved and the prosecutors the same, they are not used to dealing with the media" (E1).

Finally, working conditions themselves are another of the elements that influence the production of news. Journalists consider that the technical demands of news writing, together with the lack of personnel, mean that the time required to prepare the news is shorter, which has repercussions on the final production (E4, E5). NGOs also highlight the lack of training of some journalists, as they consider that some of them are "very young people who are still inexperienced" (E6), which, together with the lack of time "covering many hours of work" (E6), does not allow for them to focus or go into the depth required to provide the coverage this phenomenon deserves, often contacting the NGOs “by telephone and with great urgency” (E7). However, the NGOs state that there is a very unequal treatment depending on the media, finding media that “are aware and have dedicated, for example, weeks of work to produce different regular publications on the issue of trafficking, with different series, with the participation of many interlocutors to show a very complete perspective” (E6).

The role of the media in raising visibility and awareness of human trafficking

All the discourses agree on the existence of the fundamental role that the media can play in raising visibility and awareness, because “if the media do not play their true role, the role that the entities or the police or the Prosecutor’s Office believe they have to play, this is completely invisible” (E7). To this end, “it should have a more active role (...) it should be done in a way that involves the readers, the viewers, because very often this type of information sounds to us like something far away, that does not concern us, that does not correspond to us” (E2), and the professionals should be aware of the social function of their work: “All of us journalists cannot lose sight of the social function of journalism, but even more so those of us who are dedicated to issues that involve people and the weakest part of the person, and I believe that this work can be much more active” (E4).

One aspect that emerges in the discourse of the interviewees when dealing with news related to human trafficking is the lack of “specialisation”. On the one hand, it is indicated that in the media there is no area in charge of, or dedicated to these aspects or a person specialising in this area (E3). On the other hand, specialisation is linked to training, hence its necessity to address this issue.

This lack of specialisation or training has repercussions on the inadequate use of written language, because "very often they don't even know how to say women, how to say trafficked women, how to say sexually exploited women, how to say prostituted women" (E7), and also in the visual language "where in the raids they come out with their backs turned so that they are not seen, but with their heels on, with ladders in their tights, with their asses out" (E5). "Such training is necessary because not everyone can know about all the issues" (E7) and if "instead of saying 'whoremonger' you say 'clients' you are normalising" (E5). And not only is there a need for training or specialisation, but there is also the lack of "political, social and journalistic" sensitivity (E3), which should be developed prior to specialisation and that "this sensitivity does not exist either because there is no training" (E5). If we look at the way in which the written and audio-visual media communicate the news, it is important to point out the assessment made by the interviewees when considering the existence of more prepared, committed and sensitive media than others, "(...) I believe that we can talk and that there are more sensitive and less sensitive media" (E7), and there is a need to "continue working on awareness-raising, training and commitment of the media (...)" (E6).

Some journalists prefer to use the term "responsibility" (E2), considering that there has been an evolution in this respect and now the coverage is much more responsible, "we approach it with more head, with better work, with better craft" (E2). This lack of preparation is observed in the content analysis in relation to the authorship of the news items. In this respect, it can be seen in the table the percentage of news items that the media outlet conveniently identifies, meaning that they sign their news items either using their full name or the acronym, is only 56.2% in the case of El País, 52.94% in El Español, 47.73% in El Mundo, 15.38% in El Confidencial, 14.43% in ABC and 13.33% in La Vanguardia.

Also noteworthy is the high percentage of journalists whose bylines appear only once over the two years studied (80.00% in El País, 77.78% in El Español, 75.00% in El Confidencial, 66.67% in La Vanguardia and 28.57% in ABC). This need for training, for responsibility, not only needs to occur among journalists, but throughout the entire media structure (E5), because "if we don't train people in what we are seeing, no one will see it" (E7).

Contextualisation and focus of the news items

In general, all interviewees agree that the evolution of how the phenomenon has been dealt with has been positive, both in terms of understanding and tackling it. All this progress is due to "the evolution that this country has followed with regard to issues of gender violence, I mean from classic violence (...)" (E2), "also as a result of the police plan against trafficking, the change in the penal code" (E1) and that there is "more sensitivity" (E5). However, all agree that there is still much room for progress and improvement.

One such area of opportunity is the type of human trafficking that is covered in the news. The media focus their attention on human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, which makes other types of trafficking invisible and therefore "there is still a long way to go in terms of addressing and conceiving trafficking in its full extent, in all its complexity, addressing all forms of trafficking" (E6). The content analysis of the news shows that trafficking for sexual exploitation is the type of trafficking that receives the most coverage in the newspapers (69.0%), followed by trafficking for labour exploitation (18.9%).

Another aspect is the lack of contextualisation of the news item, providing elements to clarify the fact that is being described so that it does not appear in isolation but linked to various informative elements that enrich its comprehension. This contextualisation is lacking in the media and the information would need to be completed, which is why it is necessary to "turn to statistical sources, gender studies" (E3), also that the newsworthy event is framed and that "we see the before, during and after" (E5).

NGOs state that only part of the fight against trafficking is visualised (for example, the dismantling by the State Security Forces), "but there is no mention of what has happened to that woman" (E7). They also consider it necessary to go deeper into the experience of the victims, "to take a little more into account, and this should continue to be emphasised, the role and experience of the experts" (E6), and "in my experience, I believe that the victim's perspective is very effective" (E3). They further state that "the aspects that are not being contemplated, I believe that there is no text that includes all this work, the information is biased, the police information, the prosecution of crime, assistance information from NGOs, I believe that it has to be a combination of all this because otherwise society is not going to understand it" (E7). The content analysis carried out confirms this discourse, where the majority of news items cover state actions and where police operations or prosecutions promoted by judicial institutions are the first actions that newspapers report on in the news.

The aforementioned lack of plurality in information sources means that the information provided by the different media is fairly uniform and, above all, lacks specialised approaches that would favour analysis. In the interviews, this type of focus is also evident in the pieces finally produced and broadcasted, mainly police pieces, linked to the prosecution of crime or the capture of a network by the National Police or the Spanish Civil Guard (E4, E3). Even within this police/judicial perspective, the news focus more on organised crime, forgetting that trafficking "is not only about transnational organised crime but often also about individuals and informal groups" (E6).

On the other hand, both journalists and NGOs mention the need to use a "positive approach" when dealing with the phenomenon. In the discourse, expressions such as "recounting that it is possible to get out", "recovered" or "recovery process" are used because "it is necessary to recount the drama, but also to recount that it is possible to get out of the drama" (E4), and "stories of people who have been there and are coming out" (E1). This is because "if these women talk, it is because they are recovered and rescued" (E7), and "with the right time and specialised help they can move forward and can also empower themselves by talking about their recovery process, their process of integration into Spanish society, their progress and their achievements" (E6).

Relation between NGOs and the media

NGOs consider that their role with the media who want to address the issue involves several different scenarios. On the one hand, it is requested that when journalists contact specialised entities, they do not demand to be provided with direct testimonies of victims of trafficking (E6, E7). The fact that the victim has to recount and remember the situation she has lived does not help her recovery process and leads to a possible re-victimisation, "it has a very strong impact on them, sometimes a setback in their recovery process" (E6).

In order for this practice to become more and more minimal, NGOs demand that this situation be changed and that they position themselves as specialised sources from which the media requests information; in this way, "there can be a very nice, very creative, very empowering work between the specialised staff of organisations and journalists who want to deal with the subject" (E6). The fundamental role that NGOs are given is that of "mediation", obtaining positive experiences that "require very important, very detailed prior work, and what we do is very intensive mediation, being present at all times during the process (...)" (E6). Despite this context of improvement, specialised entities report very positive experiences of working with the media, establishing a relationship of mutual trust and collaboration (E6) to the point that "when we do any event, we don't even have to raise our hands or pick up the phone" (E7).

For their part, the media express their relationship with NGOs in positive terms and point out the need for collaboration, commitment, and trust in order to act on the basis of social journalism that is sensitive to this issue, and which should be promoted more frequently. In view of the above, it is fundamental to have as a clear objective that cooperation and collaboration must be very close between both sides in order to promote good journalistic practice in this area. Above all, it is important in the relationship between the victim and the media, where the NGOs place value on their "mediation in everything that has to do with the victim's safety, not to reveal her identity, respect her privacy and, of course, not allow her to be recognised visually" (E6). Furthermore, they indicate that, in the case of audio-visual media, the treatment and exposure to make the news visible requires a more complicated process. "(...) when we speak for example about the collaboration of women who have been trafficked in an audio-visual news item, collaboration is much more complex, because it involves greater intimidation, greater risk" (E6).