Indigenous representation and journalism in Colombia: how and why

Abstract

Taking as a case study the media representation on the 2008 Minga de Resistencia Social y Comunitaria (MRSC), this paper shows how the largest newspapers of national circulation, El Tiempo and El Espectador, and the TV News Caracol and RCN, represent the grievances of traditionally Colombian excluded sectors. Based on a content analysis of 238 newspaper articles and the news reports during this uprising, these document shows the visual and linguistic techniques employed by these media outlets to criminalize and make invisible, depending on the case and context, the political actions of these communities. As a conclusion, it is discussed how this type of representation is a result of three factors that affect mass media journalism in Colombia: the monopoly over mass media by small elite, the problems endured by journalists, and the ideological affinity between journalism and power in Colombia.