News Media Coverage of Environmental Challenges in Latin America and The Caribbean: Mediating Demand, Degradation and Development Bruno Takahashi

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News Media Coverage of Environmental
Challenges in Latin America & the Caribbean
Mediating Demand, Degradation & Development
Edited by
Bruno Takahashi, Juliet Pinto, Manuel Chavez,
and Mercedes Vigón
Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication

Series Editors: A. Hansen; S. Depoe
Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental
Communication
Series Editors
Anders Hansen
Department of Media and Communication
University of Leicester
Leicester, UK
Steve Depoe
McMicken College of Arts & Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Drawing on both leading and emerging scholars of environmental com-
munication, the Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental
Communication Series features books on the key roles of media and com-
munication processes in relation to a broad range of global as well as
national/local environmental issues, crises and disasters. Characteristic of
the cross-disciplinary nature of environmental communication, the books
showcase a broad variety of theories, methods and perspectives for the
study of media and communication processes regarding the environment.
Common to these is the endeavour to describe, analyse, understand and
explain the centrality of media and communication processes to public and
political action on the environment.
Advisory Board
Stuart Allan, Cardiff University, UK
Alison Anderson, Plymouth University, UK
Anabela Carvalho, Universidade do Minho, Portugal
Robert Cox, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Geoffrey Craig, University of Kent, UK
Julie Doyle, University of Brighton, UK
Shiv Ganesh, Massey University, New Zealand
Libby Lester, University of Tasmania, Australia
Laura Lindenfeld, University of Maine, USA
Pieter Maeseele, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Chris Russill, Carleton University, Canada
Joe Smith, The Open University, UK
More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14612
Bruno Takahashi • Juliet Pinto
Manuel Chavez • Mercedes Vigón
Editors
News Media Coverage

of Environmental
Challenges in Latin
America and the
Caribbean
Mediating Demand, Degradation and Development
Editors
Bruno Takahashi Juliet Pinto
School of Journalism and Donald P. Bellisario College of
Department of Communication Communications
Michigan State University The Pennsylvania State University
East Lansing, MI, USA State College, PA, USA
Manuel Chavez Mercedes Vigón

Journalism and Latin American Studies Department of Journalism
Michigan State University Florida International University
East Lansing, MI, USA North Miami, FL, USA
Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication

ISBN 978-3-319-70508-8 ISBN 978-3-319-70509-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70509-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018945557
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
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Contents
1 Challenges in the Reporting of Environmental Issues

in Latin America and the Caribbean 1
Bruno Takahashi, Juliet Pinto, Mercedes Vigón, and
Manuel Chavez
Part I North America and the Caribbean 17
2 The News Media and Environmental Challenges in Mexico:

The Structural Deficits in the Coverage and Reporting by
the Press 19
Manuel Chavez, Mireya Marquez, Denisse J. Flores, and
Manuel A. Guerrero
3 Comparing Cuban and South Florida Spanish-Language

Media Coverage of Sea-Level Rise 47
Juliet Pinto and Mercedes Vigón
Part II The Andes and the Amazon Regions 65
4 Environmental Journalism in Brazil: History, Characteristics,

and Framing of Disasters 67
Rachel R. Mourão and Heloisa Aruth Sturm
v
vi Contents
5 Environmental News Coverage in Ecuador: New Resources,

Old Media–State Tensions and Practices 91
Mercedes Vigón, Juliet Pinto, and Lilliam Martínez-Bustos
6 Environmental Journalism in Colombia: An Analysis

of Two Specialized Environmental Magazines 113
María Angela Torres-Kremers
7 The Challenges for Environmental Reporting in Peru:

Coverage of Small-Scale Mining in Peruvian Newspapers 131
Hildegard Willer and Bruno Takahashi
Part III Southern South America 157
8 Environmental Journalism in Argentina 159

María Teresa Mercado-Sáez and Fermín Koop
9 The Future of Environmental Communication and

Journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean 177
Juliet Pinto, Mercedes Vigón, Manuel Chavez, and
Bruno Takahashi
Index 187
Notes on Contributors
Manuel Chavez is the Director of the Information and Media Studies

doctoral program and a professor of journalism at the College of
Communication Arts and Science at Michigan State University. He con-
centrates his research on crisis and risk communication, and international
journalism. He has published in the areas of media and governmental
accountability, border studies, migration issues, and natural resources
protection.
Denisse J. Flores is a science and environmental journalist who holds a
master’s degree in communication from the Department of
Communication, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. She has
received a number of awards for her work in areas related to communica-
tion and environmental education and her interests focus on the conserva-
tion of natural resources.
Manuel A. Guerrero is the Director of the Department of Communi
cation of the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and UNESCO
Chair in Communication and Society. His research has focused on the
role of the media in new democracies, especially in the framing of political
issues, and on media and political attitudes. He has also published in areas
of transparency, accountability, and anticorruption policies and regulation.
Fermín Koop is an experienced Argentine environmental journalist, who
currently works as a freelancer for local and international media outlets. He
is the cofounder of Claves21, a network of Latin American environmental
journalists and journalism students, and a local partner of the Earth
vii
viii Notes on Contributors
Journalism Network (EJN). He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a

postgraduate degree in climate change and an MSc degree in environment
and development. He has taken part in three COP climate-change summits
(COP20, COP21, and COP23), where he worked as a reporter and pro-
vided training for journalists on the subject of climate change.
Mireya Marquez is the coordinator of the master’s program in
Communication and Professor of Journalism Studies and Media Theory at
the Dept. of Communication, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City.
Her research interests include comparative journalism cultures, media sys-
tems in Latin America, beat journalism, freedom of speech and anti-press
violence, theories of media democratization, and mixed-methods research.
Lilliam Martínez-Bustos is an assistant professor in the Department of
Journalism and Media at Florida International University. Ms. Martínez-
Bustos has worked as an executive producer for CBS Telenoticias, as a
producer in the Washington offices of the NBC-Telemundo and Univision
networks, and has also worked at local affiliates of PBS, CBS, and ABC in
Boston.
María Teresa Mercado-Sáez is an associate professor in the School of
Journalism at Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities
(Valencia, Spain). She teaches environmental journalism and her research
focuses on climate change and energy in the media. She is editor of El
debate energético en los medios, of a book about the energy debate on
Spanish media. She contributes to the local newspaper Levante-EMV as a
TV columnist. She spent 2010 in Argentina conducting research there.
Rachel R. Mourão is an assistant professor of innovative technologies at
the School of Journalism, Michigan State University. Her research focuses
on the relationships between journalism, technology, and politics in Latin
America and the USA. Employing both quantitative and qualitative meth-
ods, her projects analyze how multiple influences shape journalistic cover-
age of protests and elections in Brazil, and how that compares to the US
press.
Juliet Pinto is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism,
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Pennsylvania State
University. Dr. Pinto studies environmental communication in Spanish-
and English-language media and has produced an award-winning docu-
mentary on sea-level rise, South Florida’s Rising Seas (2014).
Notes on Contributors
ix
Heloisa Aruth Sturm is a doctoral candidate at The University of Texas

at Austin School of Journalism and the student leader of the Digital Media
Research Group at the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life. Her
research interests include political communication, social media, and jour-
nalistic practices. She previously worked as a reporter in Brazil covering
education, culture, and science.
Bruno Takahashi is an associate professor of environmental journalism
and communication at Michigan State University. Dr. Takahashi is also the
research director of the Knight Center of Environmental Journalism. His
research interests include media coverage of environmental affairs, envi-
ronmental journalism practices, risk communication, and the links between
media and policy.
María Angela Torres-Kremers is an environmental journalist in Berlin,
Germany. Over many years she has worked as part of the academic staff in
the departments of Social Communication and Journalism of several
Colombian universities. She is also the editor of Revista YARUMO
Internacional. Dr. Torres-Kremers’s PhD degree was in Journalism and
Communication Sciences, with a special focus on environmental commu-
nication in Germany.
Mercedes Vigón is an associate professor at Florida International
University’s Department of Journalism and Media, and is the associate
director of the FIU International Media Center. Dr. Vigón has worked as
an executive producer and international writer for CBS Telenoticias, a
journalist with UPI, and a news director for Net Financial News.
Hildegard Willer is a German journalist and journalism lecturer at the
Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). Her journalistic work focuses on
environmental and social issues and has appeared in German-language
publications, for example in the NZZ, taz, welt-sichten, and Tageswoche, as
well as English-language publications like Eco-Americas and The Lancet.
List of Figures
Fig. 2.1 Main angle of story (%) 36

Fig. 2.2 Institutional focus (%) 38
Fig. 2.3 Article characteristics and reporting techniques (%) 40
xi
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Word counts of all stories 53

Table 4.1 Characteristics of the sample by outlet and episodic/thematic
coverage80
Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics for the stories on Mariana Dam—
proportion of quotes from each type of source and tone of
coverage related to the government and Samarco (N = 40)81
Table 4.3 Correlations between the proportion of quotes coming from
each type of source and the tone of coverage toward the
government and the company Samarco 82
Table 4.4 Comparison of proportions of sources used by thematic and
episodic stories 83
Table 5.1 Frames in El Comercio stories 102
Table 5.2 Frames in El Ciudadano stories 104
Table 5.3 Origin of coverage 106
Table 5.4 Approach to the issues compared to Obregón et al. (2010) 107
Table 6.1 Main themes in Catorce 6122
Table 6.2 Main themes in Semana Sostenible122
Table 6.3 Tone in Catorce 6 and Semana Sostenible123
Table 6.4 Conflict frames in Catorce 6 and Semana Sostenible123
Table 6.5 Solutions mentioned 124
Table 6.6 Frames in Catorce 6 and Semana Sostenible124
Table 6.7 Frames and tone 125
Table 7.1 Number of newspaper articles 140
xiii
CHAPTER 1
Challenges in the Reporting

of Environmental Issues in Latin America
and the Caribbean
Bruno Takahashi, Juliet Pinto, Mercedes Vigón,

and Manuel Chavez
A region home to some of the most important ecosystems in the world—

including the Amazon rainforest, Galapagos Islands, Andes mountains,
Patagonia, and the reefs, coastlines, and maritime areas of the Caribbean Sea
B. Takahashi (*)
School of Journalism and Department of Communication,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
e-mail: btakahas@msu.edu
J. Pinto
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications,
The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
e-mail: jzp726@psu.edu
M. Vigón
Department of Journalism, Florida International University,
North Miami, FL, USA
e-mail: vigonm@fiu.edu
© The Author(s) 2018 1

B. Takahashi et al. (eds.), News Media Coverage of Environmental
Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, Palgrave Studies
in Media and Environmental Communication,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70509-5_1
2 B. TAKAHASHI ET AL.
and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, among others—Latin America and the
Caribbean provides important opportunities for scholarship examining the
nexus of economics and environment, politics and populace, and the articu-
lations of the ecological world in the mainstream, legacy media, who serve
as much in agenda-setting capacities as they do in reflecting signals from
society and institutions. Many of these countries are also uniquely vulnera-
ble to global climate change (CEPAL 2015; World Bank 2014). This
includes the melting of the tropical glaciers in the Andean region that serve
as the main source of water for millions of habitants; the deforestation of the
Amazonian region; acidification and fisheries depletion along the coasts;
species extinctions; as well as extreme natural events and disasters, such as El
Niño, and the exacerbation of their effects on populations who may already
suffer unreliable levels of access to basic services (CEPAL 2015).
Indeed, Latin America and Caribbean countries have faced a multiplic-
ity of structural challenges—political, social, and economic—over the last
couple of centuries, all of which have hindered the equality of economic
and social development across class and racial cleavages (Skidmore et al.
2013). Social inequalities, cycles of political and economic instability, and
the degradation of the natural environment have ensued. Historical lega-
cies from colonialism have in part made most of these countries heavily
dependent on their natural resources, oftentimes to the benefit of devel-
oped nations—a modern form of dependency (Skidmore et al. 2013). This
dependency has led to a variety of environmental problems, including the
pollution of waterways, deforestation, and air pollution, among others.
But at the same time, the ecosystems and natural resources found in the
Latin America and Caribbean region are unique and of extreme impor-
tance to the rest of the world. From abundant fisheries to endemic hard-
woods, unparalleled biodiversity, and exotic fruits, among many others,
this region continues to offer to the rest of the world not only products
and natural resources, but also ecosystem services such as carbon seques-
tration and purification of water and air which take place in the Amazon
(Strassburg et al. 2010).
In addition, many countries in the region play a significant role in global
environmental politics. For example, Brazil hosted the 1992 United Nations
Earth Summit, and now as an emerging economy and as part of the BRICS
M. Chavez
Journalism and Latin American Studies, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI, USA
e-mail: chavezm1@msu.edu
CHALLENGES IN THE REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LATIN… 3
bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), has a strong influence
in global environmental negotiations. In addition, Argentina, Mexico, and
Peru have hosted the UN Conference of the Parties meetings, and Amazonian
countries participate in the UN’s REDD+ programs. Furthermore, Bolivia,
Venezuela, and to a lesser extent Ecuador, have taken a shared position on
climate change negotiations, firmly condemning developed nations for their
role in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2008, President Rafael Correa and the
Ecuadorian government approved changes to the constitution that granted
nature constitutional rights, and a voice, for the first time in history (Becker
2011). Various actors compete for public attention in mediated environmen-
tal discourses. The media is a public arena (Hilgartner and Bosk 1988) where
claims-makers battle and negotiate over meanings that attempt to socially
construct nature as well as environmental problems. These alternative voices
can indeed shape local, regional, and global environmental discourses.
By providing case studies of instances of national news coverage of envi-
ronmental challenges, we hope to further and expand research in a variety
of disciplines that critically examine mediated articulations of demand,
degradation, and development, and the cultural, political, economic, and
societal influences on them. Environmental news coverage provides an
important opportunity to take the pulse of how and why news is produced
in the region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, such coverage is
uniquely important, as many if not most national economies depend heav-
ily on the exploitation and exportation of their natural resources.
Coverage of these processes through a mediated lens provides a scalable
analytical view of how local politics meets national political and economic
agendas and international capital flows, and national and international
journalism production meets established global power structures. Added
to this mix are factors such as severe income inequality, indigenous politics
and citizen activism, and questions of identity, development, modernity,
and legitimacy, as actors at every level battle to dominate and structure the
narrative, legitimize the mediated discourse, and decide the voices that
will be transmitted along myriad mediated platforms.
The Politics of the Environment in Latin America

and the Caribbean
Harnessing national well-being to natural resource exploitation and expor-

tation is not new. At the beginning of the last century, a global com-
modities boom sent prices for exports skyrocketing, including those for
soybeans, wheat, gold, silver, natural fertilizer, oil, and many others.
Governments rushed to leverage the boom, with the promise that this
‘resource nationalism’ (Yates and Bakker 2014, p. 15) would fund social
development (Gao 2015). After the global economic crash of the Great
Depression and World War II, which followed it, such resource national-
ism was replaced by populist economic strategies, such as import substitu-
tion industrialization (Skidmore et al. 2013) and national interventions in
economic development. These strategies mostly failed for those countries
that faced a lack of competition and innovation. This in turn generated
economic and political instability, which in some cases led to military take-
overs of democratic regimes. In the cases of Argentina and Chile, these
golpes de estado (coups d’état) meant that thousands of dissidents disap-
peared and were detained and/or tortured; this state of affairs lasted for a
decade, until democratization processes returned.
The rocky transition from military regimes to democratic governments
in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the high levels
of corruption in most countries (Seligson 2002) affect governability, which
is reflected in the weakness of the rule of law and the fragility of govern-
mental and nongovernmental institutions. In this context, the environ-
ment as a policy issue was institutionalized via ministries in most countries
in the region (Takahashi and Meisner 2012), but was always undermined
by economic interests tied to extractive industries (Liverman and Vilas
2006). By the turn of the twenty-first century, all that was old was new
again. What others termed neopopulist governments had once again capi-
talized on a global commodity boom to feverishly exploit resources and
export them to meet international demand, particularly from the explod-
ing economic giant China (Jenkins et al. 2008). Latin American leaders’
rhetoric joined progressive promises with extractive activities to argue that
national development, moving sectors of the populace out of poverty and
into ‘modernity,’ depended on exploiting ecological systems. This ‘pink
tide’ swept across much of Latin America and was a stark shift away from
the neoliberal policies that had accompanied the return to democratization
processes in the last decades of the twentieth century (Chodor 2014).
Although neither type of regime made particular efforts to conserve envi-
ronmental integrity, the discourse had shifted to place national concerns
over international investment (Grugel and Riggirozzi 2012).
The free-trade policies that emerged during the period from the mid-
1980s to the mid-2000s were touted as potential regional agreements that
included environmental protection measures. In 1994, that was the case
of Mexico, which made the creation of policies to protect its natural
resources and environment one of the major conditions of the passing of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In fact, the agree-
ment included an environmental parallel agreement that focused particu-
lar attention on the creation of protected areas in regions shared as borders
between the three countries that were involved (Canada, the USA, and
Mexico) and in areas of heavy manufacturing and industrialization in each
country. Of these three countries, Mexico, having been the weaker envi-
ronmental regulator, turned into an active international actor to protect
the national environments of developing countries (Chavez 2006). The
intentions and results of this successful example inspired the planned cre-
ation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas; however, this never material-
ized, as Latin American countries resisted the trade policies of the USA.
Even though global economic growth rates exploded in the first decade
of the twentieth century and poverty rates declined (World Bank 2014),
others have argued that the promises of societal betterment as a result of
this have been largely unmet, and in some cases, such as that of Venezuela,
social mobility has steeply declined (Gudynas 2010). As a result of the
region’s extreme vulnerability to global price fluctuations, and uneven
state policy interventions, the stability so sorely needed for improved
social conditions has not been achieved (Veltmeyer 2012). It is clear from
these historical lessons that in Latin America politics, governments, and
the media are either in collusion or in collision.
The News Media in Latin America and the Caribbean

Within this context, the news media are expected to play a watchdog role
(Waisbord 2000) and to inform individuals and policymakers about the
urgency of dealing with environmental problems. However, the media in
Latin America and the Caribbean have undergone dramatic changes in the
last decades that have been closely linked with the instability of democratic
regimes in the region. Globalization and technological changes on the one
hand, and local politics on the other, have shaped media systems and media
organizations in Latin America (Fox and Waisbord 2002). The fragility of
democratic governments requires a docile media system to be in place,
which allows those in power to have control over political, social, and eco-
nomic systems (Lugo-Ocando 2008; Matos 2012). Government censor-
ship has been a common practice in the mostly unregulated media systems
(Lugo-Ocando 2008; Matos 2012). The role of citizenship and of public
participation in projects to further the public good and in important deci-
sion-making has suffered from the historical and structural tensions of the
media and their state governments (Guerrero and Chavez 2009).
The combination of this volatility of governments, a weak institutional

capacity to enforce the rule of law, and the unique cultural and social
dynamics of multicultural countries rich in natural resources, constitutes a
unique context in which to explore the coverage of environmental issues
by the news media. Political communication and media scholars have
highlighted the limitations of news media and journalists in serving their
watchdog role due to restraints such as risks to the safety of journalists,
media concentration, and oligarchic ownership structures, among others
(Hughes and Lawson 2005). The economic agendas of most countries in
the region—which are driven by extractive industries—make a vigilant
media sector necessary. Global news dynamics have quickly changed the
ability of most news organizations in the region to cover issues not tradi-
tionally perceived as critical, including local environmental issues.
Economic development and social development are commonly priori-
tized, therefore limited focus has been provided to environmental issues.
This new hole has been filled in by news wire services, and environmental
issues are now being pushed into niche publications which do an excellent
job in covering issues in depth, but only cater to niche audiences, therefore
preventing the issues reaching the national agendas of their countries
(Guerrero and Chavez 2009). While environmental news per se tended to
be scarce (Jukofsky 2000), research indicates that Latin American news
regarding climate change, environmental or scientific affairs is being pro-
duced and covered in various ways, showing the impetus of news values,
event-driven coverage, cultural influences, and media, state, and public
agendas (e.g. Mellado et al. 2012; Mercado 2012; Pinto et al. 2017; Reis
2008; Takahashi 2011; Waisbord and Peruzzotti 2009; Zamith et al. 2013).
These limitations have prevented the development of a mature environ-
mental journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Developed coun-
tries such as the USA—despite the shrinking of the environmental beat
within their traditional and legacy media—experienced a period of growth
during the 1990s and 2000s, and in many cases the quality of reporting
has remained high or has improved (Friedman 2015). In Latin America—
perhaps with the exception of Brazil—environmental journalism has not
developed into a strong news beat. Overall, environmental issues seem to
populate the pages of newspapers or television screens when a disaster
occurs (see Mourão and Aruth Sturm, this volume). Some publications
might include a small section on science, the environment, and health,
though this is oftentimes limited in space and prominence. However, few
systematic empirical efforts have been made to describe and explain these
broad generalizations.
Journalists who report on the environment face a variety of constraints

in their jobs. These include organizational, social, economic, and political
barriers. Research in this area, mostly in the USA and Europe, has docu-
mented the development and subsequent decline of the environmental
beat (Friedman 2015). Mainstream news organizations in the USA such
as the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post, closed their envi-
ronmental sections and reassigned their reporters based on the argument
that the environment is a cross-sectional issue that includes politics, the
economy, business, and even entertainment. In the case of Latin America
and the Caribbean, the practice of environmental reporting lags behind
the reporting in the USA and Europe. But many unique conditions in the
region clearly shape the working environment and practices of the report-
ers who cover the environment. First, violence against reporters, similar to
the violence against environmental activists, is among the highest in the
world (Hughes and Lawson 2005). The killings of journalists in Mexico
by drug cartels, and those of environmental activists such as Chico Mendez
in Brazil and Berta Cáceres in Honduras, among many others (Neto
2017) have many parallels, as both activists and journalists were perceived
by outlaw groups as a threat.
Environmental Communication Scholarship in Latin

America and the Caribbean
There is recognition within academia, governments, industries, NGOs,
and civil society of the importance of using both strategic communication
and the news media to inform current societal and policy discussions about
environmental issues. Research exploring media coverage of environmen-
tal issues in developed nations such as the USA, the UK, Germany,
Australia, and France, among others, is extensive and comprehensive (e.g.
Brüggemann and Engesser 2017; De Brún et al. 2016; Djerf-Pierre et al.
2016; Duan et al. 2017). The last few decades have seen an explosion of
research on several topics, especially on climate change, which documents
the ways in which the media have covered those issues in regards to
themes, frames, sources, and so on. This has now expanded to the analysis
of the factors that explain such coverage, such as the level of experience of
the reporters, the types of news organizations, and environmental factors
(e.g. greenhouse gas emissions by countries), among others (e.g. Evans
2016; Tandoc and Takahashi 2014). However, this level of sophistication
is still lacking in most research in Latin America and the Caribbean (Román
Núñez and Cuesta Moreno 2016). This is a region which, we argue, has
its own idiosyncrasies, and these require a unique epistemological lens,
grounded in the cultural sensitivities of the countries and the geographical
area. For example, while newspaper readership in the USA and Europe is
in decline due to the shifting media consumption trends that go hand in
hand with technological changes (e.g. online access), readership in many
Latin American countries is increasing (WAN-IFRA 2014). This can partly
be explained by increasing levels of income and improvements in educa-
tion that have led to a higher number of literate individuals who can now
access newspapers (The Economist 2011). Despite the existence of some
worthy academic efforts exploring the environment and science in the
news media in the region (e.g. Massarani et al. 2005), few systematic
efforts to present a comprehensive view of the region have been made
(e.g. Pinto et al. 2017). Most of the scholarly work produced in or about
Latin America in terms of its environmental journalism or communication
takes the form of commentary (e.g. González Cruz 2007; Jukofsky 2000;
Lemos 1991), with only a few scholars developing empirical studies (e.g.
Gavirati 2012; Gómez 2012).
This book provides a unique survey of the ways in which news media
organizations across the region cover global, regional, and local environ-
mental issues—and challenges. It explores the content of reporting, as well
as the structural and individual challenges faced by media organizations and
journalists that explain information and content provided. Each chapter
explores the unique political, social, cultural, and environmental conditions
that affect each country individually, but does so with an eye on its subre-
gions and also the region as a whole.
As the field of environmental communication continues to grow, there
will be a higher demand for research and materials that explore other media
systems, cultures, and discourses related to the environment. The institu-
tionalization of environmental communication research in professional and
academic organizations, as well as in academic programs around the world,
provides the context in which we developed this book—with the goal of
inserting Latin America and the Caribbean into those discussions.
The main goal of this book is therefore to serve as a starting point to a
reflective and rigorous analysis of environmental discourses in the news media
in Latin America and the Caribbean. This book is one of the first comprehen-
sive volumes on the topic, following that of Pinto et al. (2017). This book will
contribute to the broadening and internationalization of academic work in
the field of environmental communication by bringing together a unique

set of contributions both from Latin American scholars and from scholars
researching the region. In addition, the chapters integrate various disci-
plinary, methodological, cultural, and epistemological approaches in their
examination of media issues in Latin America. Finally, we expect this book
to serve as a resource for instructors teaching a variety of courses focused
on news media or Latin America, including courses in journalism, sociol-
ogy, cultural studies, communication, Latin American studies, and inter-
national studies, among others.
This book provides a survey of some of the most newsworthy environ-
mental topics and events that have attracted public attention across regions
and within countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Purposely, we
chose a select number of countries (seven), representing diverse geographic
regions (North America, the Caribbean, Southern South America, and the
Andean and Amazonian Region). It was not possible to include all of the
countries in this area, so we determined key and salient countries (based on
the uniqueness of their environmental issues) to examine, without being
dismissive of the importance of the rest of the countries in the region. Each
chapter provides the general context of the situation it studies, including
an overview of the roles and characteristics of both government and media,
and of the pressing environmental issues in each country. This will help the
reader identify and learn about the characteristics and variations of, and
similarities between, the different environmental cases, countries, and
media involved, and how each event was presented to the public.
Chavez, Marquez, Guerrero, and Flores review the news media context
in Mexico from structural and institutional perspectives. They analyze the
structure and functions of the Mexican news media and their pervasive
reliance on governmental sources, their lack of investment in investigative
journalism, and the absence of solutions journalism. The authors also
describe the institutional governing apparatus that in Mexico has caused
duplication, overlapping, and in many cases conflict. Chavez et al. discuss
the role that NAFTA and the USA have played in upgrading and updating
national environmental actions and the protection of vulnerable areas,
especially across the USA–Mexico border. To illustrate their case, the
authors conducted a content analysis of the Mexico City air-pollution cri-
sis of 2016 as reported by the digital news media. The crisis and its cover-
age generated conflict, misinformation, and resentment on all sides: for
citizens, government, businesses, and scientists.
Rachel Mourão and Heloisa Aruth Sturm examine Brazil’s coverage of

the 2015 dam collapse which took place near the historical district of
Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais, and which is considered to have
been the worst environmental tragedy in Brazilian history. Through a con-
tent analysis, Mourão and Aruth Sturm report similarities between cover-
age of the disaster with coverage of environmental disasters in the USA,
such as the use of episodic framing and a reliance on official sources.
Although Brazil has the most highly developed network of environmental
journalists in the region, the researchers argue that many limitations still
exist with regards to resources assigned to the coverage of the environ-
ment, and the ways stories are framed.
Willer and Takahashi analyze Peru in their examination of informal and
illegal mining operations in the Andes and Amazonia regions of the coun-
try. This chapter uses a thematic analysis of newspaper coverage, alongside
in-depth interviews with Peruvian reporters. The authors present evidence
that news coverage of these operations is limited both in terms of quantity
and quality, especially when one takes into account that informal mining is
considered one of the most severe drivers of environmental degradation in
the country. The centralized nature of media conglomerates in Lima affects
the type of coverage given to mining; this tends to be devoid of contextual
meanings related to the cultural and social dynamics of the activity.
María-Angela Torres-Kremers examines the representations of environ-
mental affairs in two Colombian environmental magazines, exploring the
articulation of natural themes and issues, particularly the concept of ‘bio-
diversity,’ in newly mediated spaces that incorporate the visual and the
textual. The study examines the use of frames, focusing on a period of
study that coincides with the United Nations Sustainable Development
Summit of 2015, held in New York City. The results suggest that in these
two specialized magazines, the coverage of environmental issues tends to
use a social progress frame much more often than a traditional conflict
frame. This highlights the importance of having specialized media that can
counterbalance the traditional conflict framing used in traditional media
outlets across the region.
Pinto and Vigón also explore the Andean and Caribbean regions in
their chapters on Ecuador (with Martínez-Bustos), and on Cuban and
Latino media in South Florida. While obviously South Florida is not part
of Latin America, significant Latino populations live and travel there, and
it is a center of Spanish-language media in the USA that gives substantial
airtime and space to covering issues of import to Latin Americans.
Simultaneously, South Florida and Cuba are both uniquely vulnerable to

the impacts of climate change, particularly sea-level rise. Finally, the stark
difference among the media systems in the two countries provides impor-
tant avenues for comparison of environmental coverage. Therefore, Pinto
and Vigón present a comparative analysis between the USA (South
Florida) and Cuba that highlights the cultural links between these regions,
but at the same time their divergent approaches to the media. The content
analysis of legacy and alternative media in both countries focuses on sea-
level rise due to climate change. The results show that the Cuban state
media provided more in-depth reporting and less uncertainty about the
issue than Florida’s privately owned Spanish-language media. The implica-
tions for communicating scientific uncertainty, policy interventions, and
public understanding are important in two regions with shared histories
and demographics, as well as shared vulnerabilities to relentlessly rising
seas. In Ecuador, while increasing amounts of resources are being dedi-
cated to training journalists to report on climate change, this is occurring
in the context of largely hostile media–state relations, state interventions
in mediated industries, and changes to legal infrastructure that reduce
press freedom and freedom of expression.
In their chapter, María Teresa Mercado-Sáez and Fermín Koop analyze
the recent history and influences on environmental content in the main
Argentine press. Here, the authors note that low levels of environmental
news output—in part due to reporter inexperience, levels of mistrust
between scientists, journalists, and politicians, or editorial indifference—
have been punctuated by moments of coverage of disasters, international
environmental events, or issues that have been adopted into the national
political or economic agendas. Given the existence of new digital plat-
forms for so-called niche media to fill in these gaps, the authors expect to
see increasing coverage of issues such as climate change in the future.
In our conclusion, we examine the trends, connections, and avenues for
future research that arise from the discussions in this volume. Given the
international and interdisciplinary nature of this examination, encompass-
ing policy and politics, economics and environment, news and society, we
ask what are the similarities and differences in the coverage of the issues,
as well as providing a discussion of how discourses could be unified across
regions. The introductory and concluding chapters provide the intellec-
tual bridge to connect the problems discussed here with potential solu-
tions: they explore how different countries, media formats, methodologies,
and theories can be used to study a diverse environment, such as Latin
America and the Caribbean.
We are deeply involved in scholarship concerning Latin America and

the Caribbean. We attend regional, national, and international communi-
cation conferences, including those in the region. At the main communi-
cation conferences (which include the International Environmental
Communication Association, the National Communication Association,
the International National Communication Association, the Association
for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Latin
American Studies Association among others), the involvement of Latin
American scholars researching environmental communication is limited.
This book is one attempt to build a connection between scholars from
different countries who are interested in both the environment and com-
munication research in the region.
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PART I
North America and the Caribbean

CHAPTER 2
The News Media and Environmental

Challenges in Mexico: The Structural Deficits
in the Coverage and Reporting by the Press
Manuel Chavez, Mireya Marquez, Denisse J. Flores,

and Manuel A. Guerrero
Most countries in Latin America face environmental challenges; yet,

information about these varies significantly. First, there is variation in the
way different governments provide information to their citizens about
the status of their natural resources, for example in terms of threats,
protection and preservation measures. Second, news media environmen-
tal reporting is constrained by either internal professional factors or by
M. Chavez (*)
Journalism and Latin American Studies, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI, USA
e-mail: chavezm1@msu.edu
M. Marquez • M. A. Guerrero • D. J. Flores
Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
e-mail: mireya.marquez@ibero.mx; alejandro.guerrero@ibero.mx
© The Author(s) 2018 19

B. Takahashi et al. (eds.), News Media Coverage of Environmental
Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, Palgrave Studies
in Media and Environmental Communication,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70509-5_2
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
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MODUS VIVENDI, Alaskan Boundary.
See (in this volume)

ALASKA BOUNDARY QUESTION.
MODUS VIVENDI, The Newfoundland.

NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1899-1901.
MOMBASA-VICTORIA RAILWAY, The.

UGANDA RAILWAY.
----------MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: Start--------
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1895.

The situation of the Treasury of the United States.
Contract for replenishing its gold reserve.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1895 (JANUARY-
FEBRUARY).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1895-1896.

The gold reserve in the U. S. Treasury again imperilled.
Refusal of relief by the Senate.

MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1895-1896 (DECEMBER-FEBRUARY).
The Silver Question in the United States
Presidential elections.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER);
and
1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

Movements for monetary reforms in the United States.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896-1898.

Renewal of the privileges of the Bank of France.
The privileges of the Bank of France, as the fiscal agent of

the French Government, expired with the close of the year
1897, and renewal of them was opposed by the Radicals and
Socialists, who demanded the creation of a State Bank. The
government succeeded, however (June, 1897), in carrying the
measure necessary for continuing the existing system, on terms
somewhat more favorable to the state than before.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (March).

Adoption of the gold standard in Japan.
By a law of the Japanese Parliament, passed in March, 1897, to

come into force October 1, a gold monetary standard was
adopted, at the ratio of 32½ to 1, the silver dollar to be
legal tender until six months after notice given of its
withdrawal.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (April-

October).
Negotiation by American Commissioners in Europe for an
international bi-metallic agreement.
In fulfilment of the pledge given by the Republican party, at

its national convention, in 1896, that it would use efforts to
bring about an international agreement for free coinage of
gold and silver at some common ratio, the following Act was
passed by the two Houses of Congress in January and February,
1897: "That whenever after March 4, 1897, the president of the
United States shall determine that the United States should be
represented at any international conference called by the
United States or any other country with a view to securing by
international agreement a fixity of relative value between
gold and silver as money by means of a common ratio between
these metals, with free mintage at such ratio, he is hereby
authorized to appoint five or more commissioners to such
international conference; and for compensation of said
commissioners, and for all reasonable expenses connected
therewith, to be approved by the secretary of state, including
the proportion to be paid by the United States of the joint
expenses of any such conference, the sum of $100,000, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated. That
the president of the United States is hereby authorized, in
the name of the government of the United States, to call, in
his discretion, such international conference, to assemble at
such point as may be agreed upon. And he is further
authorized, if in his judgment the purpose specified in the
first section hereof can thus be better attained, to appoint
one or more special commissioners or envoys to such of the
nations of Europe as he may designate, to seek by diplomatic
negotiations an international agreement for the purpose
specified in the first section hereof. And in case of such
appointment so much of the appropriation herein made as shall
be necessary shall be available for the proper expenses and
compensation of such commissioners or envoys." Pursuant to
this Act, President McKinley, on the 12th of April, appointed
Senator Edward O. Wolcott; of Colorado, ex-Vice-President
Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, and General Charles J. Paine,
of Massachusetts, to be commissioners for the purpose which
the bill describes. The commissioners first visited Paris, and
there obtained assurances from the French government of
cordial cooperation and support. They then proceeded to
London, for negotiation with the British authorities, on whose
attitude towards the movement for international action in the
matter its success was well known to depend. Some members of
the British government, conspicuously Mr. Balfour, were
outspoken advocates of bi-metallism, and much was hoped from
the discussion to be opened with them. The American
commissioners were cordially received, and they were invited
to a formal meeting, on the 12th of July, with Lord Salisbury,
the Prime Minister, Mr. Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury, Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord
George Hamilton, Secretary of State for India. The American
Ambassador, Mr. Hay, accompanied them to the conference, which
was held at the Foreign Office. A memorandum of the
conversation at this meeting, and at a second one held on the
15th, together with a correspondence which followed, were
published later in a parliamentary "blue book," from which the
following account is drawn. Mr. Wolcott explained the wish of
the American envoys to obtain the views of several
governments, preliminary to the inviting of an international
bi-metallic conference. He added that they expected to have,
in England, the full cooperation of the Ambassador of the
French Republic, who happened, for the moment, to be absent
from the country, but who had requested them to proceed with
the meeting in his absence. "Mr. Wolcott then presented some
reasons which, in the opinion of the Special Envoys, rendered
it desirable that some international agreement for the
restoration of bimetallism should be reached, and explained
why, in their opinion, the success of this effort depended
upon the attitude which England would take regarding the
question. He then stated that the Special Envoys requested
that England should agree to open English mints as its
contribution to an attempt to restore bimetallism by
international agreement, and dwelt upon the importance of the
fact that France and the United States were together engaged
in an attempt to bring about such an agreement, and were
cooperating together to that end. Lord Salisbury desired to
know if the French Government would co-operate upon the basis
of opening their mints to the free and unlimited coinage of
silver.
{315}
Mr. Wolcott answered in the affirmative. Lord Salisbury then
asked at what ratio, and was informed by Mr. Wolcott that the
French Government preferred the ratio of 15½ to 1, and that
the United States were inclined to yield this point and accept
this as a proper ratio. Considerable discussion on the
question of the ratio and the method by which it should be
settled then took place. … It was then suggested that further
proceedings should be deferred until the French Ambassador
might be also present. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
further conversation, said that if the suggestion of opening
the English mints was to be made, he thought an answer in the
negative would undoubtedly be given. The First Lord of the
Treasury asked whether, assuming this request for opening
English mints to be refused, it was desired that the subject
be discussed upon the basis of something different and less
than the opening of English mints. Upon a mutual understanding
that in the absence of the French Ambassador, anything said
should be considered as said informally, a discussion then
took place as to the concessions that England might make
towards an international solution of the question, if it
should refuse to open English mints. Mr. Wolcott, for the
Special Envoys, presented the following as a list of
contributions which, among others, England might make towards
bimetallism if an international agreement could be effected:
1. Opening of the Indian mints. Repeal of the order making the

sovereign legal tender in India.
2. Placing one-fifth of the bullion in the Issue Department of
the Bank of England in silver.
3.
(a.) Raising the legal tender limit of silver to, say, £10.
(b.) Issuing the 20s. notes based on silver, which shall be
legal tender.
(c.) Retirement, gradual or otherwise, of the 10s. gold
pieces, and substitution of paper based on silver.
4. Agreement to coin annually £ … of silver [present silver

coinage average for five years about £1,000,000, less annual
withdrawal of worn and defaced coin for recoinage, £350,000].
5. Opening of English mints to coinage of rupees, and for

coinage of British dollar, which shall be full tender in
Straits Settlements and other silver standard Colonies, and
tender in the United Kingdom to the limit of silver legal
tender.
6. Colonial action, and coinage of silver in Egypt.
7. Something having the general scope of the Huskisson plan.
Some general conversation followed in regard to the preceding

suggestions, and the interview terminated, to be resumed on
the 15th July, 1897, when it was understood that the French
Ambassador would also be present."
At the second meeting, July 15, Baron de Courcol, Ambassador

of the French Republic, and M. L. Geoffray, French Minister
Plenipotentiary, were present, and the former spoke at length,
stating the position of the French government on the question
of the free coinage of silver. He said: "'Our population,
notably the agricultural population, finds that it has not at
its disposition sufficient resources in currency, in metallic
money. On the other hand, if the Government in the actual
state of affairs reopens the mints to the free coinage of
silver, we would be flooded by the abundance of this metal
coming from all other countries of the world, and we could not
resist the even greater evil of the inevitable depreciation of
one of our precious metals, that is to say, of the effective
destruction of the legal ratio upon which our monetary system
is based. … In other words, we think that the production of
silver, more active in certain quarters of the globe in the
last quarter of a century, is not of itself considerable
enough to change in an enduring manner the normal ratio
between gold and silver after these two metals will have been
scattered over the entire surface of the world among all
nations who are called upon to absorb them. There is, then, in
our eyes, a need which is perhaps transitory, but which is
actually common to all the commercial nations, of taking
measures adequate for assuring, by a common understanding, the
re-establishment of the normal ratio of 15½ between silver and
gold. If measures of this kind should be adopted by all the
commercial nations, we would be able to reopen our mints to
the free coinage of silver without fear of being submerged by
an excessive influx of this metal. The reopening of the mints
of all the commercial countries to the free coinage of silver
in the ratio of 15½ with gold would be the most natural and
the most efficacious means of arriving at the result sought
for. This is the desideratum which I am instructed to bring
forward here, and which I am particularly to urge upon the
English Government as a primordial condition of the success of
the common understanding. If the Government of the Queen, even
in consenting to reopen the mints in India, should refuse to
adopt the same measure for England, at least would they not be
able to take certain measures which would be, up to a certain
point, equivalent, in order to maintain the full value of
silver, and to prevent India from being the victim of a
depreciation of this metal in consequence of an unlimited
coinage? … By way of suggestion, I would indicate, as one of
the measures which the English Government might usefully
adopt, the annual purchase of a certain quantity of silver
metal, which might afterwards be disposed of as seemed
best-either it might be preserved in ingots, or it might be
used for regular consumption, or it might be sent to India.
This quantity might be fixed approximately, at least, for a
number of years, at a sum of £10,000,000 in nominal value.
This is, perhaps, only a palliative; it is, in any event, only
one of the expedients which would be deemed necessary. But I
am to urge strongly that the English Government determine to
take measures of this kind, or other equivalent measures, if,
as I believe, it recognizes with us the necessity of improving
the monetary situation in a great part of its Empire—I may
say, in a great part of the entire world.' Lord Salisbury then
asked whether the French Government would decline to open its
mints unless England would also open her mints. The French
Ambassador replied that he preferred to discuss the subject
upon the basis that France would go to open mints if England
would consent to open her mints, but that he would not exclude
from his view the question of contributions by England towards
maintaining the value of silver, short of open mints. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in response to this, stated
definitely that the English Government would not agree to open
English mints to the unlimited coinage of silver, and that,
whatever views he and his colleagues might separately hold on
the question of bimetallism, he thought he could say they were
united upon this point. …
{316}
The suggestions made by the Special Envoys at the interview on
the 12th July were again read, and the Special Envoys accepted
also as important and desirable the proposal that the English
Government should purchase annually, say, £10,000,000 of
silver, with proper safeguards and provisions as to the place
and manner of its use. The French Ambassador expressed his
approval generally of the suggestions of the Special Envoys,
as being serviceable in the consideration of the question. It
was then understood that the proposals submitted by the French
Ambassador and by the Special Envoys of the United States
should be considered, and due notice given when a reply could
be made."
The proposal for the reopening of the Indian mints to silver

was submitted at once by the home authorities of the India
Office, at London, to the government of India, and the reply
of the latter was not received until the following October.
When the reply came, it extinguished hopes of the arrangement
which the American and French governments desired. In a long
despatch, the Indian government explained with clearness the
monetary situation in that country, and discussed the effect
which a return to the unrestricted mintage of silver would
have upon it, under the circumstances and prospects of the
time. "The currency system of India," said the despatch, "is
in a transition state; the Government of India in 1893 decided
to establish a gold standard, and the first step towards that
object was the closing of the mints to silver by Act VIII of
1893. The silver rupee is still the sole legal tender coin,
though the Government has by Executive orders undertaken to
receive gold and sovereigns under certain restrictions, … the
rate of exchange adopted being 16d. the rupee or 15 rupees=£1.
The measures to be taken when the transition period has passed
have not been laid down, but it is probable that the Indian mints
will be opened to gold, and gold coins will be made legal
tender to an unlimited amount; silver rupees would also
continue to be legal tender to an unlimited amount, and the
ratio between the rupee and the gold coins as legal tender
would at the same time be finally settled. The system towards
which India is moving is thus a gold standard of the same kind
as that which now exists in France and the United States, but
with a different ratio for legal tender; but for the present
the mints are closed both to gold and silver. The transition
period has lasted for more than four years, but there is
ground for hope that it is now drawing to a close. The changes
which are involved in the arrangements proposed to Her
Majesty's Government are the following. France and the United
States are to open their mints to the free coinage of silver,
continuing the free coinage of gold and the unlimited legal
tender of coins of both metals, the ratio remaining unchanged
in France and being altered to the French ratio of 15½ to 1 in
the United States. India is to open her mints to silver, to
keep them closed to gold, and to undertake not to make gold
legal tender. France and the United States would thus be
bimetallic: India would be monometallic (silver); while most
of the other important countries of the world would be
monometallic (gold). The object which the proposers have in
view is the establishment of a stable relation between the
values of gold and of silver. This would include the
establishment of a stable exchange between the rupee and
sterling currency, which was the object of the Government of
India in the proposals made in our financial despatch of the
21st June, 1892, which proposals ultimately resulted in the
adoption, in view to the attainment of that object, of the
policy of a gold standard, and in the closing of the mints to
the free coinage of silver. If, then, it were certain that the
suggested measures would result in the establishment of a
stable ratio, the Government of India might well consider
whether their adoption would not be preferable to the policy
to which they committed themselves in 1893 in the hope of
attaining the same result by isolated action on the part of
India alone. The principal questions therefore for us to
consider are whether the measures are more likely to succeed
than the policy of 1893, and what consequences to India may be
apprehended if the measures should fail of success after being
brought into operation. … The first result of the suggested
measures, if they even temporarily succeed in their object,
would be an intense disturbance of Indian trade and industry
by the sudden rise in the rate of exchange, which, if the
ratio adopted were 15½ to 1, would be a rise from about 16d.
to about 23d. the rupee. Such a rise is enough to kill our
export trade, for the time at least. If the public were not
convinced that the arrangement would have the effect intended,
or believed that it would not be permanent, the paralysis of
trade and industry would be prolonged and accompanied by acute
individual suffering, none of the advantages expected would be
attained, and the country would pass through a critical period
which would retard its progress for years. How long the crisis
would last before normal or stable conditions were restored it
is not possible to conjecture. It would be long even if the
mercantile and banking community saw that silver was being
steadily maintained at the prescribed ratio, while any
indication of unsteadiness would greatly prolong the period by
giving foundation for doubt. If the doubt should happen to be
justified by the results, the position would be disastrous
alike to the State, to individuals, and to trade generally. …
We cannot help seeing that if the policy of 1893 is now
abandoned, and if the triple union now proposed as a
substitute should fail in its operation or should terminate,
and in its failure subject Indian trade to the violent shocks
we have described, the Government of India could not, as a
responsible Government, call upon the commercial public to
face another prolonged period of doubt, suspense, agitation,
and difficulties. For it must be clearly and fully recognized
that if India joins in the proposed measures, we shall be left
dependent, as the sole means of attaining stability in
exchange, on the success of those measures, and that if they
should fail, India must be content to remain permanently under
the silver standard with all its admitted disadvantages. … We
have given very careful consideration to the question whether
France and the United States are likely, with the help of
India, to be able to maintain the relative value of gold and
silver permanently at the ratio they intend to adopt, and have
come to the conclusion that while we admit a possibility of
the arrangements proposed resulting in the permanent
maintenance of the value of gold and silver at the ratio of
15½ to 1, the probability is that they will fail to secure
that result, and that it is quite impossible to hold that
there is anything approaching a practical certainty of their
doing so.
{317}
One reason for this conclusion is, that the arrangement would
rest on too narrow a basis. A union consisting of two
countries, with a third lending assistance, is a very
different thing from the general international union of all or
most of the important countries of the world, which was
advocated by the Government of India in the despatches of
March and June 1892 and of February and September 1886. To
afford a hope that a monetary union will succeed in
establishing stability in the relative value of gold and
silver, it is essential that the nations adhering to it should
be of such number and importance that the metallic currency of
the whole body shall be of sufficient extent to allow of the
exercise of adequate influence on the value of the two metals.
We doubt whether any two, or even three, nations in the world,
unless, indeed, one of them was Great Britain, could comply
with this condition, and we have no hesitation in saying that
France and the United States and India certainly could not. …
We have no hesitation in recommending your Lordship to refuse
to give the undertaking desired by the Governments of France
and the United States. We are quite clearly of opinion that
the interests of India demand that her mints shall not be
opened as part of an arrangement to which two or three
countries only are parties, and which does not include Great
Britain." Immediately on receiving this reply, Lord Salisbury
informed Ambassador Hay that "Her Majesty's Government feel it
their duty to state that the first proposal of the United States
Representatives is one which they are unable to accept," and
expressing a wish to know "how far the views of the American
and French Governments are modified by the decision now
arrived at, and whether they desire to proceed further with
the negotiations at the present moment."
Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications

(Papers by Command: Commercial, Number 8, 1897).
In the view of the American envoys, it seemed useless to

proceed, with no hope of cooperation from Great Britain, and
they returned to America with a discouraging report.
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1897 (December).
Adoption of the gold standard in Russia.
An imperial ukase declared the adoption of the gold standard

in Russia, authorizing the issue of a new five-rouble gold
piece.

Settlement of the monetary system in the United States.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (MARCH-
DECEMBER).
MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: A. D. 1900 (November).

Withdrawal of legal tender silver coins in Germany.

GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (NOVEMBER).
----------MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: End--------
MONGOLIA.

MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA.
MONOPOLIES.

TRUSTS: UNITED STATES.
MONROE DOCTRINE, The:

As emphasized in the Treaty of International Arbitration.

PEACE CONFERENCE.
MONROE DOCTRINE, The:
Its discussion as involved in the Venezuela Boundary Question.

VENEZUELA; A. D. 1895 (JULY) and (NOVEMBER).
MONTAUK POINT, Removal of troops from Santiago de Cuba to.

A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: CUBA).
MONTENEGRO.

BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES.
MOROS, The.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS; THE NATIVE INHABITANTS;
and A. D. 1899 (MAY-AuGUST).
MORTMAIN, Proposed restrictions on, in France.

FRANCE: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS:

Conflicts in Armenia.

TURKEY: A. D. 1895.
MOSLEMS AND CHRISTIANS:

Conflicts in Crete.
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).
MOSQUITO, The, as a carrier of disease.

SCIENCE, RECENT: MEDICAL, AND SURGICAL.
MUKDEN.

MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA; also,
RUSSIA IN ASIA: A. D. 1891-1900.
MUNICIPAL EVENTS, Notable.

BOSTON, CHICAGO, NEW YORK, TOLEDO, LONDON.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS:
Institution in Cuba.

CUBA: A. D. 1900 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS:
Institution in the Philippines.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (MARCH).
MUSIC: In the Nineteenth Century.

NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE MUSICAL CENTURY.
N.
NABONIDOS, Discovery of an inscription of.

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA:
DISCOVERY OF AN INSCRIPTION.
NANSEN'S EXPEDITION, Return of.

POLAR EXPLORATION, 1896.
NASHVILLE EXPOSITION.

TENNESSEE: A. D. 1897.
NATAL.

SOUTH AFRICA.
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF 1896.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER.)
NATIONAL PARTY, The.

A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER); and
1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).
NATIONAL SILVER PARTY.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1896 (JUNE-NOVEMBER).
{318}
NATIONAL STEEL COMPANY, The.

TRUSTS: UNITED STATES.
NATIONALISTS, FRENCH, Revolutionary conspiracy of.

FRANCE: A. D. 1899-1900 (AUGUST-JANUARY).
NAVAL POLICY, German.

GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (FEBRUARY-JUNE).
NAVIES OF THE SEA POWERS: A. D. 1900.
The following tables are compiled from a return issued by the

British Admiralty in the spring of 1900, showing the state of
the fleets of Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Italy,
the United States, and Japan, including vessels then built and
in progress of construction.
Of battle-ships, there were built and building in the several

navies:
Count with a displacement

of
Great Britain. 70 821,605
France. 35 339,599
Russia. 24 262,912
Germany. 25 191,259
Italy. 19 193,001
United States. 16 184,144
Japan. 7 92,420
Of armored and protected cruisers, there were built and

building:

of
France. 60 297,486
Russia. 23 144,673
Germany. 22 107,844
Italy. 25 93,673
Japan. 23 114,479
Of unprotected cruisers, armored coast-defence vessels,

and special vessels there were built and building:

of
France. 29 93,385
Russia. 26 66,886
Germany. 35 59,617
Italy. 3 13,821
Japan. 13 24,065
Of torpedo vessels and torpedo-boat destroyers

the number built and building was:
of
France. 305 34,002
Russia. 233 37,735
Germany. 130 20,094
Italy. 180 24,863
Japan. 71 9,537
A consolidation of the above figures shows a

total of ships in the principal navies as follows:
Great Britain, 486;

France, 429;
Russia, 306;
Germany, 212;
Italy, 227;
United States, 122;
Japan, 114.
A writer in the "Fortnightly Review," discussing the above

returns, points out the imperfectness of the representation
which such gross figures give of the actual naval strength of
the several Powers, and he has undertaken to correct them by a
calculation of what he calls the "fighting weight" of the
ships, based on the age of each and its displacement in tons.
He says: "The scale of depreciation for age that I have used
is as follows: Ships, built and now building, that were
launched, or which will be launched, during 1895-1899 (and
later), are reckoned at their full value of fighting weight;
i. e., at 100 per cent. Ships launched during 1890 1894 are
reckoned as now worth only 80 per cent. of their fighting
weight. The other depreciations being: Ships launched
1885-1889 are valued at 60 per cent. of their nominal fighting

News Media Coverage of Environmental Challenges in Latin America and The Caribbean: Mediating Demand, Degradation and Development Bruno Takahashi

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News Media Coverage of Environmental Challenges in Latin America and The Caribbean: Mediating Demand, Degradation and Development Bruno Takahashi

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News Media Coverage of Environmental

Challenges in Latin America and the

Firm Innovation and Productivity in Latin America and

Latin America and the Caribbean Sixth Edition David L.

Digital rights Latin America and the Caribbean 1st

Venezuela, ALBA, and the Limits of Postneoliberal

A Short History of U S Interventions in Latin America

Digital Activism, Community Media, And Sustainable

Environmental Governance in Latin America 1st Edition

The Manufacturing Sector in Argentina, Brazil, and

Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication

More information about this series at

News Media Coverage

Manuel Chavez Mercedes Vigón

Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018945557

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

Cover credit: LeoFFreitas

1 Challenges in the Reporting of Environmental Issues

Part I North America and the Caribbean 17

2 The News Media and Environmental Challenges in Mexico:

3 Comparing Cuban and South Florida Spanish-Language

Part II The Andes and the Amazon Regions 65

4 Environmental Journalism in Brazil: History, Characteristics,

5 Environmental News Coverage in Ecuador: New Resources,

6 Environmental Journalism in Colombia: An Analysis

7 The Challenges for Environmental Reporting in Peru:

Part III Southern South America 157

8 Environmental Journalism in Argentina 159

9 The Future of Environmental Communication and

Manuel Chavez is the Director of the Information and Media Studies

Journalism Network (EJN). He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a

Heloisa Aruth Sturm is a doctoral candidate at The University of Texas

Fig. 2.1 Main angle of story (%) 36

Table 3.1 Word counts of all stories 53

Challenges in the Reporting

Bruno Takahashi, Juliet Pinto, Mercedes Vigón,

A region home to some of the most important ecosystems in the world—

© The Author(s) 2018 1

The Politics of the Environment in Latin America

Harnessing national well-being to natural resource exploitation and expor-

The News Media in Latin America and the Caribbean

The combination of this volatility of governments, a weak institutional

Journalists who report on the environment face a variety of constraints

Environmental Communication Scholarship in Latin

the field of environmental communication by bringing together a unique

Rachel Mourão and Heloisa Aruth Sturm examine Brazil’s coverage of

Simultaneously, South Florida and Cuba are both uniquely vulnerable to

We are deeply involved in scholarship concerning Latin America and

Friedman, S. M. (2015). Environmental journalism in the United States. In

Matos, C. (2012). Media and politics in Latin America: Globalization, democracy

North America and the Caribbean

The News Media and Environmental

Manuel Chavez, Mireya Marquez, Denisse J. Flores,

Most countries in Latin America face environmental challenges; yet,

© The Author(s) 2018 19

MODUS VIVENDI, Alaskan Boundary.

See (in this volume)

MODUS VIVENDI, The Newfoundland.

See (in this volume)

MOMBASA-VICTORIA RAILWAY, The.

See (in this volume)

----------MONETARY QUESTIONS AND MEASURES: Start--------

1 Challenges in the Reporting of Environmental Issues

Part I North America and the Caribbean 17

2 The News Media and Environmental Challenges in Mexico:

3 Comparing Cuban and South Florida Spanish-Language

Part II The Andes and the Amazon Regions 65

4 Environmental Journalism in Brazil: History, Characteristics,

5 Environmental News Coverage in Ecuador: New Resources,

6 Environmental Journalism in Colombia: An Analysis

7 The Challenges for Environmental Reporting in Peru:

Part III Southern South America 157

8 Environmental Journalism in Argentina 159

9 The Future of Environmental Communication and

Fig. 2.1 Main angle of story (%) 36

Table 3.1 Word counts of all stories 53