The constructed and constructive experience:

journalistic framing of the “day of fire” in the Amazon

Abstract

The article aims to identify which frames were constructed by the journalistic discourse about the “day of fire” in the Amazon, as well as to understand how the journalists’ experience added to the framing. Based on Goffman (1974), it is understood that frames are the basic elements that individuals can identify. The analysis focused on 121 texts published by the newspapers Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil) and Público (Portugal). The results showed that both constructed frames of conflict, responsibility, human interest, and economic consequences. Even though, from an editorial point of view, the case was handled in a “national” way by Folha de S. Paulo and in an “international” way by Público, both (foreign in their own way) highlighted the faults of President Jair Bolsonaro in solving the environmental problem.