Environmental journalism in
the Latin American digital
press
Periodismo ambiental en la prensa digital
Latinoamericana
Cindy Mariana Ariza Rodríguez1
María José Aranzazu Rodríguez2
Cristian García Villalba3
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to
analyze how the Latin American digital
press has addressed environmental
issues during August, September and
October 2019, it is a mixed research, of
a descriptive type, with which it was
possible to identify, measure and
describe their work during the period
already mentioned. For this it is
necessary to approach and know the
concept of environmental journalism,
which is characterized by being
specialized journalism, which provides
information on the interaction of people
with the environment. Environmental
journalism requires greater journalistic
preparation when it comes to
addressing the subject, in addition, it
has a particularity, and that is that it
encourages, awareness and educates
citizens for a common good.
Keywords: Theoretical guidelines,
construction of pedagogical activities,
intelligence of perception.
Centro Sur.
Social Science Journal
April - June Vol 5 No 2
http://centrosureditorial.com/in
dex.php/revista
eISSN: 2600-5743
revistacentrosur@gmail.com
Receipt: March 24, 2020
Approval November 11, 2020
1-21
1 Master, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios –
UNIMINUTO, Girardot, Colombia,
Cindy.ariza@uniminuto.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-
0003-0039-0013
2 Master, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios –
UNIMINUTO, Girardot, Colombia,
maranzazuro@uniminuto.edu.co,
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3183-2195
3 Master, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios –
UNIMINUTO Girardot, Colombia,
Cristian.garcia.v@uniminuto.edu,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5135-252X
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
2
Resumen
El presente trabajo tiene como fin
analizar cómo la prensa digital
latinoamericana ha abordado los temas
ambientales durante agosto,
septiembre y octubre de 2019, es una
investigación mixta, de tipo descriptivo,
con la cual se logró identificar, medir y
describir el trabajo de los mismos
durante el periodo ya mencionado.
Para esto es necesario abordar y
conocer el concepto del periodismo
ambiental, el cual se caracteriza por ser
un periodismo especializado, que
brinda información sobre la interacción
de las personas con el entorno. El
periodismo ambiental exige mayor
preparación periodística a la hora de
abordar la temática, además, tiene una
particularidad, y es que incentiva,
conciencia y forma ciudadanos para un
bien común.
Palabras clave: Periodismo
Ambiental, Periodismo Especializado,
Medio Ambiente, Medios de
Comunicación Digitales.
Introduction
Currently the digital media are the leading exponents of environmental issues, a
situation that became a priority very recently and that has generated in humanity the
need to know and change the lifestyle for a better environment; To name the
environmental events that have been news in the world is trivial and endless, since
each time these cases are increasing, in addition, every time something happens in
this regard is given the required value for a few days, then it ceases to be news; what
has not been taken into account is that it is a fundamental issue for the life of any living
being and that although it ceases to be a news topic is still a fundamental issue for
society.
A clear example of the aforementioned is Colombia, due to the fact that it is the country
where more social leaders are murdered for defending their lands, beliefs and
ancestral customs that is linked to the environment, this is stated by Global Witness
(2019), which since 2018 has been conducting a study entitled 'the enemies of the
State'; in other words, Colombia ranks second with 24 environmental leaders murdered
per year, it is joined by Latin American countries such as Brazil with 20, Guatemala
with 16, Mexico with 14, Honduras with 4, Venezuela with 3 and Chile with 2 (Global
Witness, 2019).
Margaret Mead (2020, p.1), American anthropologist said that "we will not have a
society if we destroy the environment" and she is right; Latin America has been
privileged to be the continent with the greatest diversity on the planet, in addition, the
Inter-American Development Bank (2020, p.1) states that the continent "is home to
some of the most primitive and diverse ecosystems in the world". Argentina, Bolivia,
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
3
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican
Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela are the countries that make up the Latin American
continent, each of them has varied climates, unique habitats, wonderful species,
tropical rainforests and savannas, among others, allowing Latin America to be that
tourist attraction par excellence, however, it also brings disadvantages and problems
that make the ecological attraction becomes a challenge in each country.
Taking into account the environmental crisis that has been evidenced in the digital
press, about the latest episodes that took place in Latin American countries such as
Brazil where 2.5 million hectares were lost (Semana, 2019) or Mexico, for example,
which is the second country in the world where forest fire alerts are registered (El
informador, 2019) or Chile, a country that is distinguished for being the most polluted
in South America (CNN, 2019). In the rest of the world we could mention what
happened at the end of 2019 in Australia and Florida, USA among others.
That is why this article seeks to analyze whether the work of Latin American digital
media is framed to the main objective of environmental journalism, with which they
want to transmit that environmental citizenship that humanity is missing or not. It is
understood that environmental journalism seeks to "tell stories that help people to
better understand how we humans relate to the natural world around us" (Fraser, 2016,
p. 7).
The different environmental events that have triggered social interest and the
environmental problems that have been most evident are many, which has led to
different natural phenomena that have brought heavy losses and thus concern about
the work of mankind in terms of the use of natural resources. Using journalism as a
constructive tool in society has allowed to give value and meaning to the environment,
that is why environmental journalism has been more present than ever. This arose in
the 1970s, however, previously the subject had not been heard or treated as it is now.
Thus, to talk about environmental journalism is to talk about environmental and
ecological issues, it is to talk about fauna, flora and everything related to nature in
general, that is why it is a project with social projection in which we sought to identify
and analyze the journalistic process on these issues and how they influence the
behavior and actions of society.
As far as the theoretical approach is concerned, the informative treatment given in the
media on environmental issues, allows the receiver to learn in one way or another
about facts that are unknown about the environmental issue; it is already known that
environmental journalism is a specialized journalism, however, it should not be
satisfied with just reporting a relevant fact and let it pass. Environmental journalism
should propose alternatives, solutions, strategies or conclusions about the
environmental issue or fact that is being reported. Fernández & Mancinas (2013) state
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
4
that "it is necessary to avoid both catastrophism and the omission of information.
Whenever possible, the alarm should be complemented with the presentation of
intervention possibilities and solution alternatives" (p. 23).
The audience has always been accustomed to the fact that all the media say is true,
and, many times this ends up being a utopia; the reality of some of the situations is
that journalism is used to mention what is convenient for a few, omitting information; in
the environmental case, what Fernández & Mancinas (2013) propose, is to avoid the
fact of reducing or increasing the information and more with a topic of social relevance.
Information catastrophism is, according to Amores (2007), "a discourse that speaks of
a catastrophe that the discourse itself prevents from occurring. It prevents it because
it stimulates cautious behavior" (p.1). In this sense, environmental catastrophism has
often been developed because of the need to create a social alarm, because of a true
fact, however, many times this catastrophism is necessary to show and inform what is
really happening.
On the other hand, in addition to catastrophism and omission of information, Noam
Chomsky (2012) called the 10 strategies of media manipulation; it is important to
highlight this issue, because in one way or another the digital media are immersed in
making use of these strategies. Some of the 10 strategies of media manipulation and
perhaps the most common when talking about environmental journalism according to
Chomsky, could be the following: Digital media allow information to be more truthful,
however, truthfulness sometimes plays a role against themselves, given this generates
distraction and at the same time disinformation. The strategy of manipulation number
1 is entitled, strategy of distraction, "The strategy of distraction is equally indispensable
to prevent the public from being interested in essential knowledge, in the area of
science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and cybernetics" (Chomsky, 2012, p.
1); based on this the author explains how through distraction can be generated
disinformation and disinterest in a topic, in this case the environmental.
As stated above, environmental journalism suffers from a lack of economic support
and sponsorship, thus preventing a general interest not only from the audience but
also from the media; when the opportunity arises to report on issues related to the
environment, this is not given the same value as a political note, from there it has
already created a strategy of distraction generating misinformation. Another distraction
strategy, which undoubtedly is a fundamental part of environmental journalism is
number 2, creating problems and then offering solutions, also known as problem-
reaction-solution; for this Chomsky (2012) expresses that "a problem is created, a
'situation' intended to cause a certain reaction in the public" (p. 1); based on this,
environmental journalism should propose solutions, facing the environmental news
that informs, that is why environmental journalism goes beyond just informing.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
5
In summary, catastrophism and the omission of information are always present in
journalism in general, in environmental journalism, almost always the news or
journalistic works are about events that bring with them a catastrophism and therefore
generates sensationalism, that is why it is important to make journalism not only inform,
but also create solutions and possible changes to what is being reported.
Digital media have become the favorite tool of human beings, this is because they
allow easy access to any information they want to know. Digital media are the new era
of traditional journalism. Television, radio and newspapers are still the most important
means of communication, however, digital media have allowed people to be informed
in a simple and practical way. The digital media allow a journalistic work that facilitates
access to information and in that sense a more interactive and practical production of
the same for the receiver; in the network can be updated every minute the information,
it allows to be more truthful and at the same time allows to have a constant periodicity.
Marcet, Murillo & Vizuete (2007), state that "it necessarily demands, if quality is to be
provided, a permanent updating of the informative takes. Texts are updated and new
informative twists complement or replace those provided in previous takes" (p.320).
Taking into account the above, doing journalism using digital media requires that the
journalistic work does not stand still, but, on the contrary, renews and refreshes the
information already presented.
Infographics, surveys, videos, cartoons, podcasts, among others, are indispensable
tools in the journalistic work done in digital media, these tools can be given a different
use in traditional media, "print media began as a replica with many limitations of the
paper product and today much of its contents are still the translation to a digital
environment of the news and services offered by the newspaper" (Santamaría, 2015,
p.93). In Colombia, for example, print media such as El Tiempo, El Espectador and
Revista Semana, have seen the need and duty to adapt to the Web 2.0 boom. They
have seen the need and duty to adapt to it; this is how, currently, through the web, they
allow their users to be aware of the facts that are news.
Seeing digital media as a constructive tool for the environment has allowed social
leaders, activists, environmentalists and journalists to show the environmental reality
of the planet. In this regard, it can be said that, although digital media are a vital tool
for the promotion of journalism in general, there are factors that still need to be
evaluated. One of them, and the one that has been mentioned the most in the present
work is the lack of promotion and support that environmental journalism receives.
Using the media as a tool to disseminate environmental issues should evoke not only
in the journalist but also in the media managers, that interest in going beyond the fact
that it is news, however, it has been noted how the journalist approaches the situation.
The media do not hire journalists with environmental training because they understand
that the expense is not justified, but then, in fact, it is demonstrated that their
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
6
professionals do not even have the "basic general environmental culture" that is
expected to be part of the community's heritage (Fernández & Mancinas, 2013, p.144).
To conclude, digital media are indeed a necessary tool to make environmental issues
visible, but in general, there is a lack of commitment by the media, journalists and
recipients. It ends by quoting Javier Darío Restrepo (2004) stating that "in effect,
information - be it cultural, sports, economic, political or of any other nature - is not the
property of the journalist or of the media, but of society. It is 'a social good'.
Materials and methods
The present research study uses a mixed methodology, which allows working in a
deeper way, since it allows performing "a collection, analysis and interpretation of
qualitative and quantitative data that the researcher has considered necessary for his
study" (Otero, 2018, p. 19); taking this into account, the research was conducted.
Understanding this, it was important to carry out a mixed research, with which it was
possible to make a qualitative analysis when analyzing how is the journalistic work of
the Latin American digital press in the framework of the environmental events that took
place in August, September and October 2019, in order to delineate the journalistic
work of the same, as well as it was also finally possible to describe the work that was
managed to analyze; indeed the quantitative method was involved in the present
research since "it is based on data collection methods without numerical measurement,
such as descriptions and observations" (Sampieri, Collado & Baptista, 2004, p. 10).
Now, under the quantitative method it was possible to measure the frequency with
which each media outlet publishes an environmental news item during August,
September and October 2019; about this method Sampieri, Collado & Baptista, (2004)
"uses data collection and analysis to answer research questions and test hypotheses
... relies on numerical measurement, counting and often the use of statistics to
accurately establish patterns of behavior" (p. 10).
The project is of descriptive type because it will be described, details and particularities
that identify the subject to be treated will be taken into account, this in order to be able
to reach a conclusion and a final result where further research on the subject can be
carried out. For Cauas (2015) the descriptive type of research:
It is fundamentally aimed at the description of social or educational phenomena in a
given temporal and special circumstance... in exploratory research, questions that lead
to precise problems are not posed, but rather problem areas are explored; at this level,
the questions are guided by descriptive schemes and taxonomies; their questions are
focused on the variables of the subjects or the situation (p. 6).
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
7
The descriptive type of research is characterized because "it consists fundamentally in
characterizing a phenomenon or concrete situation indicating its most peculiar or
differentiating features" (Cauas, 2015, p. 6). From the above, the descriptive type, with
which the present research was approached, allowed that in a deeper way each
established achievement could be completed; since it was possible to investigate how
is the journalistic treatment that the digital media in Bolivia, Peru Mexico, Colombia
and Argentina, which allowed in one way or another to know the panorama of the
situation, not only in environmental issues, but also in the sense of relevance of the
individual by the environment.
Having this clear and that the number of digital media in the countries is very high, it
was necessary to perform a purposive sample which is characterized because "it
requires a certain knowledge of the universe, its technique consists in that it is the
researcher who intentionally chooses his study units" Gamboa Romero, M. A., Barros
Morales, R. L., & Barros Bastidas, C. (2016), (Tapia, 2000, p. 9); given this, the digital
media of five countries that were previously selected through Google Trends were
chosen. Through a technological tracking with the Google Trends tool, it was possible
to find which were the Latin American countries with more environmental news
searches in Google News, during August, September and October 2019, these were:
Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina; having this clear, the intentional sample
was made, which was already addressed above.
Thanks to these results, the research was carried out since the five countries
represented there are the ones with which the research was developed, for this two
variables were used, what is marked in blue is the 'Environment' variable and what is
in red is the 'Climate Change' variable, it was decided to make the analysis using these
two concepts, since they are the most used by people when talking about the subject
(see table 1).
Table 1:
Countries and digital media with which the survey was carried out
research
Country
Name of media
Type of
media
Seniority
Presence in
Google News
Bolivia
Los Tiempos
Newspaper
1943
About 5,100,000
results
Peru
El Comercio
Diary
1839
About 227,000
results
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
8
Mexico
El Universal
Newspaper
1916
About 349,000
results
Colombia
Week
Magazine
1946
About 8,990,000
results
Argentina
La Nación
Diary
1870
About 312,000
results
As previously mentioned, the present research is mixed and descriptive; that is why
the techniques implemented are part of the qualitative and quantitative method. The
use of research techniques makes it possible to trace and fulfill the objectives proposed
for the development of the research, which is why each specific objective responds to
a particular technique. The techniques in a research "constitute the set of mechanisms,
means or resources aimed at collecting, preserving, analyzing and transmitting data
on the phenomena being investigated" (April. 2008, p. 3); considering this, the
techniques used are: information tracking, bibliographic review (bibliographic review)
and triangulation.
Results
The results found after applying each technique were the support and basis for finally
answering and addressing the problem question of this research. Initially, the
technique was the information search, with which a search of Latin American digital
media was carried out, in which through a purposive sample, one media per country
was chosen. Taking into account the literature search and the purposive sample, these
were the digital media for each country:
Figure 1: Digital media by each country
The next step was the publication of a total of 538 news items in the five selected
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
9
media outlets during the three months.
Figure 2: Comparative number of news items published by each medium
In August 235 news were published, in September 168 and in October 141, evidently
in August 2019 more environmental news were published since the fire in the Amazon
was experienced, an environmental event that made world news. On the other hand,
Bolivia was the country with the most publications on environmental news, this is
because during that same time the country faced a forest fire in the south of the
country, an environmental event in which 5.3 million hectares were lost in the Bolivian
Amazon, known as Charagua.
Figure 3: Approximate number of interactions
N° of news published in October 2019
No. of news items published in September
2019 No. of news items published in August
Peru
Bolivi
a
Argentin
a
Mexic
o
Colombi
a
Comparative number of news items published by
media/country in the
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
10
In this figure (3) it can be observed an approximate of the interactions obtained for
each news item, not all media have the option to leave comments, if not reactions, this
is the case of El Universal, El Comercio and Los Tiempos, while La Nación has the
option to send internal messages and finally Revista Semana, allows leaving
comments. The following is a list of topics that should be addressed in environmental
journalism, and the topics that the digital media dealt with the most, according to
Fernandez (2003), these are the topics that should normally be addressed when
reporting environmental news, however, it can be noted that there are topics such as:
Soil, Waste and energy are not addressed in the news published.
Table 2
comparative environmental issues
Environmental issues that
should be published in the press
according to Fernandez (2003)
Issues being published in the Latin
American press
Agriculture
Water
Water
Atmosphere
Atmosphere
Forests
Forests
Costs
Costs
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development
Social Impact Studies
Energy
Seas
Social Impact Studies
New Technologies
Seas
Environmental organizations
New Technologies
Urban Problems
Ecological Organizations
Nature protection and conservation
Urban Problems
Transportation
Protection and conservation of
the
nature
Waste
Soils
Finally, the journalistic genres most used by the digital media are news and long
articles; as mentioned above, environmental journalism is characterized by the
treatment of information since it is known when there are articles, chronicles, reports,
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
11
interviews, etc.; that is why the media in one way or another want to achieve the same,
however, their articles are mostly opinion articles.
With the triangulation, a content analysis was performed on the news published during
the months in which the research was conducted in order to describe the work of the
digital media in each country. To begin with, a brief description of the general
characteristics of the 5 media was made, this is done in order to make a general
analysis of how is the work of these with the news published.
Table 3:
theoretical propositions
Theoretical propositions
Los
Tiempos
El
Comercio
El Universal
Week
La Nación
Subject
It is a
privately-
owned
newspaper
that
circulates
nationwide
and has
been
circulating
on the
Internet
since
1996.
It is a
private
newspaper
and
considered
the oldest
in the
Spanish
language.
It is a
traditional
newspaper that
is in great
demand on the
Internet.
It is a
private
magazine
that
circulates
weekly.
It is the
only
newsprint
mill in the
country.
What each
newspape
r talks
about
The main
topics to
be
discussed
are
related to
It is a
commerci
al,
political
General
national and
international
information.
The
main
issues
are
The main
topics to
be
discussed
are
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
12
the
country,
social and
political
issues,
among
others.
and
literary
journal.
political,
economi
c and
environ
mental.
related to
the
country,
social and
political
issues,
among
others.
Source: own elaboration, 2020.
In this second part of the signing, it was possible to make an opinion according to the
analysis that was already done initially, in which it is made known what has been
perceived in each media according to the work they did.
Table 4:
list of interpretations
List of interpretations
Los
Tiempos
El Comercio
El
Universal
Week
La Nación
It is a
good
follow-up,
it informs
about the
facts that
are news
and that
in one
way or
another
must be
shared in
society.
It is a digital media
that does not have
preeminence for
news related to the
environment,
however, they
report on it.
As one of
the
newspape
rs with
the
largest
circulatio
n, it is
known for
reporting
on all
topics,
including
environm
ental
issues.
The magazine
has a space
dedicated to
the
environment,
Semana
Sostenible, a
clear example
of
environmental
journalism.
It is a
complex
newspaper,
when
looking for
environment
al news,
since it is
constantly
making
updates.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
13
In the subpoint of the determination of empirical relationships, aspects or
characteristics that the digital media have in common were compared; analyzing in a
general way, how is the work of these, what technological tools they use, how long are
the news; at this stage of the file the content analysis turns out to be deeper, since it is
analyzed how is the work they do with each news item. It is necessary to remember,
as mentioned above, that the content analysis was very basic, because the total flow
of news is too high to analyze one by one.
Table 5:
determination of empirical relationships
Determination of empirical relationships
Los
Tiempos
El Comercio
El
Universal
Week
La Nación
They use
official
sources.
They use official
sources.
They use
official
sources.
They use
official
sources.
They use
official
sources.
They do
not have a
section
dedicated
to the
environm
ent.
They do not have a
section dedicated to the
environment.
They do
not have a
section
dedicated
to the
environme
nt.
They do
not have a
section
dedicated
to the
environm
ent.
They are
constantly
updated.
They are constantly
updated.
They are
constantly
updated.
They are
constantly
updated.
They are
constantly
updated.
They use
ICT
resources
.
They use ICT resources.
They use
ICT
resources.
They use
ICT
resources.
They use
ICT
resources
.
Its
content is
informativ
e.
Its content is
informative.
Its content
is
informative
.
Its content is
informative.
Its
content is
informativ
e.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
14
The style of the digital
page is saturated with
advertising.
The style
of the
digital
page is
saturated
with
advertisin
g.
The style
of the
digital
page is
saturated
with
advertisin
g.
The following table shows the differences that were found in each medium, which are
presented in general terms.
Table 6:
contrast of propositions
Contrast of propositions
Los Tiempos
El
Comercio
El
Universal
Week
La Nación
The notes
are short.
It is a
complete
medium,
however,
the
information
is
environme
ntal is
disorderly.
The media
is saturated
with
advertising,
which
interferes
with the
reading of
the article.
The information
is organized by
environmental
themes.
It constantly
makes use of
videos, maps,
graphs, audios,
etc.
Uses official
foreign
sources
such as EFE,
BBC, among
others.
others.
There is
no space
for people
to interact
afterwards.
to read the
note.
In between
paragraphs
you will find
more notes
related to
the subject.
It presents the
reader with
recommendatio
ns or curious
facts about the
subject.
It presents long
articles.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
15
In the search
engine of the
site there is
no filter to
organize the
news from
according to
the subject.
There are
some
notes that
exceed 30
paragraph
s.
Highlight
valuable
information
within the
text.
His notes
almost always
recount
experiences,
therefore, there
are interviews.
The paragraphs
are not long.
The last table (7) presents the most relevant according to the analysis, and it is that all
media have more things in common than the opposite, initially it could be determined
that this is because they are digital media that simply seek to inform and already, it can
be seen how in their notes there is journalistic monotony, that is, they publish topics
for the sake of publishing them, the format is always the same, they use official
sources, etc.
Table 7:
selection of the best interpretations
Selection of the best interpretations
Los Tiempos
El Comercio
El Universal
Week
La Nación
They do
publish news
related to the
topics
environmental.
They do publish
news related to
the topics
environmental.
They do
publish news
related to the
topics
environmental.
They do publish
news related to
the topics
environmental.
They do
publish news
related to the
topics
environmental
.
It makes use of
ICT tools,
which allows
the news to be
told and
understood in
a different way.
It makes use of
ICT tools, this
allows the news
to be told and
understood in a
different way.
It makes use of
ICT tools,
which allows
the news to be
told in a way
that is
and
understood in a
different way.
It makes use of
ICT tools, this
allows the news
to be told and
understood in a
different way.
It makes use
of ICT tools,
which allows
the news to
be told in a
way that is
and
understood in
a different
way.
It deals with
local and
international
It deals with
local and
international
It deals with
local and
international
It deals with
local and
international
It deals with
local and
international
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
16
issues.
issues.
issues.
issues.
issues.
They use
official
sources.
They use official
sources.
They use
official sources.
They use official
sources.
They use
official
sources.
There is no
great flow of
interaction with
this
type of news.
There is no
great flow of
interaction with
this
type of news.
There is no
great flow of
interaction
with this
type of news.
There is no
great flow of
interaction with
this
type of news.
There is no
great flow of
interaction
with this
type of news.
The digital media in Bolivia, Peru, Mexico and Argentina do not have a section
dedicated to the environment. Most of the digital media also resort to the use of foreign
official sources, which, in the words of Fernandez (2003), allows a normative
denomination of what can be defined as environmental journalism that has had
consensus among communication professionals and designates each of the training
presented on topics ranging from ecological, environmental and green.
Within the countries that were taken as the object of study, Bolivia stands out as the
country that published the most news during August, September and October 2019,
regarding environmental issues, and in contrast, the country that published the least
news was Colombia. This is due to the particular interest of each of the analyzed
media, since on many occasions environmental information is part of the sections of a
newspaper or magazine within the "special" topic or when there is an event that
predominantly marks the agenda of the media. Hence, of the digital media analyzed,
the Colombian media is the closest to what is specialized journalism, because,
although it does not produce constant information, when it does, it goes deeper into
the issues to be exposed.
It is important to mention that, at present, most of the analyzed media, not only because
of interest, but also because modernity demands it, use information and
communication technologies, since it is part of the informative vanguard. On the other
hand, during the analyzed temporality, it could be evidenced that the media, regardless
of the informative cut, took as important news the spread of the fire in the Brazilian
Amazon in August 2019, however, although Bolivia also fought a forest fire, this did
not have the same popularity in the media as it did with Brazil.
In the world there are approximately more than two billion digital media, however, the
audience always focuses on the traditional media in each country and even more so
when the information focuses on news about environmental issues.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
17
Conclusions
This study was established in order to analyze how the digital media in Latin America
approached and covered the fire in the Brazilian Amazon in August 2019. It became
evident the little treatment that the media gave on the subject in general, which, allows
concluding that, the work of the digital press of the media Los Tiempos, from Bolivia,
El Comercio, from Peru, El Universal, from Mexico, Revista Semana, from Colombia
and Diario La Nación, from Argentina, are digital media that inform their audience
about the environmental issues that are news, however, they do not respond to the
most important characteristic of specialized journalism and that is to go beyond.
Environmental journalism seeks to go beyond just informing, but even knowing this,
the media comply with informing, without delving deeper into the subject; the
environment is a fundamental area in society, where economic, political and ideological
interests are perceived, which in one way or another allow the manipulation of
information related to the environment. With this clear, the work carried out by the
analyzed media allows us to see how the flow of information is high, and how
information is not managed and transmitted in the best way, each of the five countries
has environmental problems that perhaps the citizens themselves are unaware of, but
they do focus on informing about the environmental problems of others.
This is where specialized journalism makes the difference, beyond informing, it seeks
to raise awareness and educate about an environmental problem. To learn more about
what we wanted to achieve, three specific objectives were outlined, the first was to
identify which is the most used digital media in the five Latin American countries
according to their presence and frequency on the Internet, from this it can be concluded
that there are many digital media in Latin America, most of them are traditional media
that have seen the web as the perfect tool to make a practical, fast and truthful
journalism, however, this infers that the work done is done in depth.
During the month of August, it became evident how the flow of information increased
not only in the Latin American media, but also worldwide, this was due to the Amazon
fire, for the media at that time the attention was focused on the reaction of the president
and the economic groups that were harmed and not the hectares that were being lost
day by day. Finally, it can be concluded that the media need sponsorship and
specialized journalists who are passionate about helping to solve the environmental
problems that arise in each country, the task does not end with just publishing the
news, the task of the specialized journalist ends when he sees in the audience an
attitude and position that adds to the one that has been presented. It is concluded by
saying that environmental journalism is the tool with which you can transform, rescue
and organize the environment, while digital media are the fast and truthful way by which
this can be possible; the content that each media publishes is the vitamin and
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
18
encouragement that each reader needs to make their lifestyle contribute to the
environment.
Reference
Amores, J. A. B. (2007). The power of the community. Beyond the catastrophist
discourse. Acciones e Investigaciones Sociales, (24), 131-149.
Arias, K. & Galván C. (2011). Informative treatment of the environmental issue in
newspapers: El Colombiano, El Espectador and El Tiempo through content
analysis. Bucaramanga: Pontificia Bolivariana University. Retrieved from:
https://repository.upb.edu.co/bitstream/handle/20.500.11912/1684/digital_21170
.pdf?sequence=
Inter-American Development Bank. (2020). The environment in latin america and the
caribbean. Casa publicadora. https://www.iadb.org/es/natural-disasters/medio-
ambiente
Cauas, D. (2015). Definition of variables, approach and type of research. Bogotá:
electronic library of the National University of Colombia, 2.
Chomsky, N. (2012). The 10 strategies of media manipulation.
CNN. (March 5, 2019). South America's most polluted cities: 6 Chilean cities top the
list. CCN. Retrieved from: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2019/03/05/las-ciudades-
sudamericanas-mas-contaminadas-6-chilenas-lideran-la-lista/#0
El Tiempo. (January 21, 1991). Medios y medio ambiente. El Tiempo. Retrieved from:
https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-12836
Fernández del Moral, J. and Esteve, F. (1996). Fundamentos de la Información
Periodística Especializada. Madrid: Síntesis.
Fernández, J. (1995). Environmental Journalism in Spain. MOPTMA. Madrid
Fernández, J. (2001). Communication and public service (An interdisciplinary
approach). Revista de estudios políticos, (114), 169-196.
Fernández, R, & Mancinas, R. (2013). Media and climate change. Proceedings of the
International Conference. Sevilla: Fénix Editora. Retrieved from:
https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/30820/ActasJornadasMediosdeComu
nicacion.pdf;jsessionid=0AD39BF3EA6A68B8F74B51B3C7313F8F?sequence=
1
Fernández, R. (2003). Around the debate on the definition of environmental journalism.
Ámbitos: International Journal of Communication, 9-10, 143-151.
Fernández, R. (2004). Environmental journalism and sustainable journalism. Ámbitos.
International Journal of Communication, (11-12).
Fraser, B. (2016). Guide what is and how to do environmental journalism. Lima, Peru:
Tarea Asociación Gráfica Educativa.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
19
Gamboa Romero, M. A., Barros Morales, R. L., & Barros Bastidas, C. (2016).
Childhood aggressiveness, learning and self-regulation in primary school
children. LUZ, 15(1), 105-114. Retrieved from
https://luz.uho.edu.cu/index.php/luz/article/view/743
Global Witnes. (2018-2019) Enemies of the state? How governments and corporations
silence defenders. Publishing House.
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/enemigos-
del-estado/
Google Trends. (2020). Retrieved from: https://trends.google.es/trends/?geo=ES
Hernández Sampieri, R., Fernández Collado, C., & Baptista Lucio, P. (1996). Research
Methodology. Bogotá: McGraw Hill.
El Comercio. (2020). Página principal. Retrieved from: https://elcomercio.pe/
Sustainable Week. (2020). Home page. Retrieved from:
https://sostenibilidad.semana.com/
El Universal. (2020). Página principal. Retrieved from:
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/
Internet Live. (2020). Home page. Retrieved from:
https://www.internetlivestats.com/watch/websites/
La Nación. (2020). Home page. Retrieved from: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/
https://www.lostiempos.com/
Jiménez, A. G. (2008). Aproximaciones al periodismo digital (Vol. 13). Librería-Editorial
Dykinson. Jiménez, B. E. (2001). La contaminación ambiental en México.
Editorial Limusa.
Marcet, J., Murillo, F. & Vizuete, J. (2007). Defining elements of digital journalism.
Estudios sobre el mensaje periodístico, 13, 317-336.
Mead. M. (2020). Retrieved from: https://www.c-sgroup.com/-
/media/files/literature/spanish- catalogs/esp-environmental.ashx.
Otero, O. (2018). Research approaches. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/alfredo_oteroortega/publication/326905435
_enfoques_de_investigacion_tabla_de_contenido_contenido/links/5b6b7f99928
51ca650526dfd/enfoques-de-investigacion-tabla-de-contenido-contenido.pdf
Restrepo, J. (2004): El zumbido y el moscardón. Taller y consultorio de ética
periodística, Mexico: Fundación para el Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano.
Rodríguez, R. (2004). Agenda-Setting Theory: application to university education.
European Observatory of Social Trends.
Santamaria, D. (2005). Digital media: where youth have the initiative. Journal of youth
studies, (68), 91-103.
Centro Sur. Social Science Journal. eISSN: 2600-5743. April - June Vol. 5 No. 2 - 2021
http://centrosureditorial.com/index.php/revista
20
Week. S. (September 4, 2019). The Amazon lost 2.5 million hectares in just one month.
Semana. Retrieved from:
https://sostenibilidad.semana.com/impacto/articulo/incendio-en-la-amazonia-
alcanzo-25-millones-de-hectareas-en-agosto/46636
Tapia, M. A. (2000). Metodología de la investigación. On-line publication] Santiago.
UNESCO. (1983). International Code of Journalistic Ethics. Paris. UNESCO
