UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

‘Supertanker is a Hero, the Government a Villain’ : Politicization of Chile’s 2017 Forest Fires in the Media

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.1177/17499755211067642

Authors

Tomás · Pedro · Mario

Reported year

2022

Reported language

en · eng

Source type

Article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:10:31.793988+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:10:31.793988+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Documentary abstract — original language

This article analyses the politicization of natural disasters in the media and the narratives of crisis that contribute to these dynamics. In particular, it studies media coverage of the 2017 mega-fires in Chile and the way in which this coverage was framed by pre-existing political disputes over the performance of Michelle Bachelet’s government (2014–2018). It examines the print press coverage of the mega-fires, and the framing contests used to interpret the fire crisis. It pays special attention to the controversies that erupted over the foreign planes that were sent to help fight the fires: the American Supertanker and the Russian Ilyushin. We argue that press coverage of the mega-fires transformed a natural-social phenomenon into an emotionally charged political drama in which the Supertanker airplane was signified as the hero, and the Chilean government the villain. The Supertanker played a condensation symbol role. It was cast in the media as an external hero promising to control the fires that had overwhelmed local capabilities, and to overcome a government that was portrayed as inefficient and late to respond. The media functioned as an echo chamber for the cultural battle between the government and opposition. This article contributes to a cultural sociology of disasters, paying special attention to the role played by the symbolic representation of nature and socio-technical artefacts in political disputes.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1177/17499755211067642

OPENAIRE

doi_________::4f975fada670789618e9b338763a5cff

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

Article

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

CL

Natural entities mentioned

Forest

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAIRE · Record 1

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755211067642

Documentary status

Relevance pending

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