International correspondents in Spain facing Government and information sources. Evaluation of problems by analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Correspondents have faced significant changes in the professional model of journalism and the deterioration of the profession due to the effects of the economic crisis in the journalism sector. This article proposes an approach to this reality in Spain, and does so by trying to determine what specific factors make the tasks of correspondents more difficult within the general context of the structural weakening of journalism. The methodology Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used for this purpose. This methodology is based on the idea that the complexity inherent to an evaluative decision in which multiple factors intertwine can be resolved by quantitatively ranking them, which allows identifying what is truly influential. In this study, a panel of correspondents was interviewed with open questions about hinderances to their work, next their answers were turned into a survey which was administered to the same panel. This led us to determine the relative weight of four challenges: 1. The lack of collaboration by the Government with correspondents; 2. The difficulty in accessing sources; 3. The agenda setting due to the loss of status of correspondents; 4. The clash with Spanish culture.