Journalistic construction of the earthquake or disaster?

Abstract

The media create the imaginary of disaster. This article analyzes the journalistic construction of disaster in the newspaper Animal Político, through an analysis of content and “framing” applied to three approaches: threat, response and responsibility. It concludes that the destruction was associated with threat rather than vulnerability. Nevertheless, corruption highlighted the institutionalized vulnerability and lack of progress made since the 1985 earthquake in the mediatic construction of disasters. It is suggested that the mass media should adopt the Integral Risk and Disaster Management (GIRD) perspective to benefit the journalistic guild.