Recursos hídricos e divulgação científica: análise de cobertura midiática da crise hídrica no Sudeste (2014-2015)

Abstract

A water crisis of significant social and environmental impacts occurred in the Southeast region of Brazil, in the biennium 2014-2015. It happened at the most populous region of the country and it involves an irreplaceable limited natural resource, with relevance accentuated by the need for clean water to be directly related to human subsistence. In this context, the media play an important role in informing the citizen about relevant social situations. In this way, scientific popularization also acts as an intermediary between what happens in the environment and the population. Thus, the present study analyzed how the theme water crisis in the Southeast was reported by the magazines Scientific American Brasil and Veja. The analysis period was from 2013 to 2016. In order to identify, classify, categorize and analyze the contents, we used Content Analysis and Image Analysis. The analysis was methodologically based on these instruments, which was performed both in quantitative and qualitative aspect. The results show a great difference in the way these two magazines presented the Southeast water crisis. On the one hand, Scientific American Brasil temporarily added its records, prioritized one type of section, counted on larger contents, with many images little explored, a more hermetic language and more elaborate texts; on the other hand, Veja kept up with the episodes of the crisis, eventually presenting more developed content. This research hopes to have fulfilled its objective, also enabling more specific and deep investigations on the subject.