Amazônia e Ideologia no New York Times: uma leitura crítica

Abstract

The lifestyle and consumption habits that has developed on a global scale, especially since the industrial revolution and the globalization of capitalism, has brought impacts to the delicate ecological balance of the planet. Consequences are more visible every day, and the preservation of the environment is increasing its space in the media. The Amazon rainforest - the largest tropical rainforest and freshwater reservoir in the world - has been considered a stronghold of living nature that should be preserved for the future of humanity. National and international, economic and social interests are focused in the forest creating a complex stress field. In the 1980s, Brazil was under international community’s pressure to inhibit the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, which had never been so alarming. Many myths grew around the intentions of foreign intervention and Brazilians’ xenophobia in the rainforest, which raises the need for studies and research that could clarify these issues. Based on the conceptual reference of cultural studies that says the texts of media culture are able of a critical reading that contributes to the elucidation on how relations of domination and resistance are reproduced, some of these answers may be found in journalistic texts. In this case, editorials from The New York Times about the Brazilian Amazon, published in the late 1980s, are analyzed based on the concept of ideology proposed by Thompson (1995) and socio-historical contextualization of the Amazon rainforest and journalistic activity. It seeks to point out what ideological positions expresses the point of view of the world's most influential newspaper, especially regarding Brazilian national sovereignty over the rainforest in the complex global context of increasing environmental concerns, along with national and transnational economic interests.