Breaking news? Journalistic criteria in the publication of news on Spanish municipal websites (2011-2016)

Spanish legislation includes the obligation to publish information, making it available to citizens, in order to improve public management. However, such information is not created using journalistic criteria, but rather political control. This study of news published by six city councils on their websites between 2011 and 2016 shows that the current legislation has improved the number of public information items (raw data material), but not the quality of the news. It also highlights the lack of innovation in the use of social networks to promote citizen participation with information.