Elite Framing of Inequality in the Press

Brazil and Uruguay Compared

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6235726
AutoresMatias López (0000-0002-0871-2841, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume10
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoBrazilian Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1981-3821 • E-ISSN: 1981-3821
EditoraFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/1981-38212016000100002
OpenAlexW2332315162
SCIELO_PIDS1981-38212016000100202
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas45

Current elite studies argue that inequality produces negative externalities to elites, who may either promote democracy or adopt authoritarian measures in order to shield their interests from the actions of the rebellious poor. This article argues that elite framing of poverty and inequality in the press is a good thermometer of elite public response to such externalities. The press represents a communication tool shared by elites in the state, market, civil society, and, most evidently, the media itself. If inequality threatens elite rule, elites should share their concerns in order to move towards a solution. Since the literature links inequality and elite response, I propose undertaking a comparison of elite public responses to poverty and inequality in two South American cases with opposite records of inequality: Brazil and Uruguay. The article approaches elite framing of poverty and inequality in the press by analyzing opinion pieces and editorials in the main newspapers of both countries. Results invert the expected link between inequality and elite response. Elite framing of inequality in the Brazilian press did not suggest elite concern with externalities, neither an elite turn towards more democracy or authoritarianism. Contrastingly, a few Uruguayan elites did frame the poor as menacing

Authoritarianism · Democracy · Development economics · Economic inequality · Economics · Elite · Framing (construction · Inequality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Sociology · History · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics