The Climate Risks of the Amazon framed by Journalism Independent

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse how climate risks related to the Amazon are framed in two independent platforms that produce journalism from the region and disseminate information in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The paper first analyses how information about the Amazon region has been produced. Then, based on the Framing analysis, it systematises how climate risks are associated with Amazonían issues in 41 articles on the two platforms, InfoAmazonía and Sumaúma. The study was conducted between September and December 2022, a period that includes the presidential elections in Brazil and the 27th United Nations Climate Conference. We observe the extent to which the debate on climate issues is framed from the perspective of politics in both Spain and Brazil. However, the independent Amazon platforms have added a more complex analysis of the issue. The results show that the two platforms argue that the climate crisis is caused by human activity and is considered a cross-cutting issue with the rainforest as the world's focal point for action and prevention. The frames chosen to frame the issue in terms of anti-speciesism and prioritise the voice of local characters and scientists. We conclude that the interpretative packages of both are disruptive, as there is a strong critique of capitalist logics and, therefore, the themes involving the forest and the climate have more plural and critical frames.