ABSTRACT
National identities are continually discursively constructed in the media. In Catalonia, with its special features in terms of national identity, Catalan and Spanish identities are flagged through sports information. This study of the national frame of reference draws upon Billig’s concept of banal nationalism, which designates the complex set of assumptions, representations and practices that, acting in an everyday manner, reproduce daily the collective identity of nations. In this context, one of the most prominent mediums in the daily creation and reproduction of national identities is television. This research analyses the nation reproduced in sports information in the most important TV programme in Catalonia (in terms of audience): the news (Telenotícies vespre) on ‘Televisió de Catalunya’ Catalan public TV.
