This article focusses on the analysis of the news coverage of fracking in
the seven daily national Spanish newspapers in 2012. The results of the analysis of
the 246 news items, based on the theory of framing, have demonstrated that the
debate in the Spanish press also focusses on the concept of risks versus benefits. The
environmental threat stands out as a result of the large number of actors, appearing
as sources in the news items that are against the technique of fracking. Regional
politicians and anti-fracking platforms lead the public debate, forming a negative
opinion of this technique in Spai