The Environmental Story that Wasn´t: Advocacy, Journalism, and the Asambleista Movement in Gualeguaychu

SILVIO WAISBORD Y ENRIQUE PERUZZOTTI

MEDIA, CULTURE & SOCIETY

Sage Publications

Año: 2009 vol. 31 p. 691 - 709

0163-4437

This paper analyzes how news management strategies coupled with journalistic conventions affect news coverage of the Asamblea Ciudadana Ambiental de Gualeguaychú in Argentina, a social movement against the establishment of two paper mill plants in the Rio Uruguay. Since 2003, the Asamblea has received wide attention in local and national news. Media advocacy has been central to the Asamblea’s political goals. This case offers an opportunity to examine the role of the news media in the definition of environmental risk in a country with weak environmental policies and a weak tradition of environmental reporting. News coverage of the Asamblea confirms the media’s penchant for sensational and dramatic events. Also, it suggests that the mainstream media does not necessarily portray social movements negatively. Because the media largely relies on official sources in setting news frames, shifting views about the movement among political elites on news events takes attention away from structural processes and environmental policies.