Socio-environmental conflict and contentious politics: framing of the environmental crisis of red tide bloom in Chiloé (Chile)

This article analyzes the news frame given to the environmental and social crisis linked to the red tide bloom that occurred in Chiloé, during 2016, from the framing theory, and its tension with the social movement’s frame. The way in which the elite media covered this socio-environmental crisis is compared with the way in which the social movement of fishermen and citizens framed the crisis. The results indicate that the movement focuses on a framework of socio-environmental conflict, emphasizing the origin of the crisis in the productive model of the area. On the other hand, the elite media build two frames. The first, focused on emphasizing that the crisis has its origin in a cyclical natural phenomenon, while the second highlights the conflictive aspects of social protest and the crisis as a public security problem.