In the journalistic coverage of political processes, social stereotypes often shape a deliberate absence or invisibilisation of certain leaders and parties, or emerge from the repeated discretionary exposure of actors or proposals by strengthening specific contextual readings. From the contributions of ideological criticism, sociology and political psychology to the interdisciplinary study of speech, I analyse how in interpreting and positioning events that pertain to any information provided by the press, the vision of the scene, the actors, the problems at stake and certain cultural fears, are key factors in the deliberate framing of the electoral agenda. In theoretical terms, I establish an analytical link between more abstract concepts such as imaginary or social representations and more operational notions such as stereotypes and ideology, regaining the value of their interrelationship from a socio-psycho-political perspective on the instances of circulation of media discourse in contemporary democracies.