Identities and stereotypes in media coverage of indigenous peoples

a study on ethnic representation in news portals from Brazil and Spain

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the representation of the ethnic identities of Indigenous peoples in Latin America on news portals from Brazil and Spain, in order to understand whether the published content fosters sociocultural stereotypes through homogenizing approaches. The analysis corpus consists of news and reports published on portals from both countries, Folha de S. Paulo and El País, during the first quarter of 2024. We used Bardin’s Content Analysis and the category systems of Figueiredo and Figueiredo, Araújo, and Lima to organize the interpretation of messages and examine whether the modes of representation of Latin American Indigenous peoples were constructed in a way that reflects the diversity of these populations or, on the contrary, erases their identities and generalizes their contexts. We conclude that, both in the Brazilian and Spanish contexts, coverage of Indigenous peoples is characterized by the underrepresentation of these ethnic groups and a tendency to associate these populations, in a generalized way, with contexts marked by violence.