Media and Punitive Populism inArgentina andChile

Abstract

Punitive populism is common throughout Latin America. It involves political and public opinion support for more police officers, greater police autonomy, and tougher laws to punish crime—options that often perpetuate old police practices and resist police reform efforts. This article critically examines the role of the media in fostering punitive populism by examining the sources used by journalists. Comparing the ‘most different’ cases of Argentina and Chile and drawing on interviews conducted from 2009 to 2015, I argue that the choices made by journalists regarding their sources are affected by neoliberal media policies in a particular way that favours tough‐on‐crime discourses.

News-sharing on Twitter reveals emergent fragmentation of media agenda and persistent polarization

“…While Página 12 and El Destape are known to support Kirchnerism, a center-left political party [28], Clarín and La Nación are known for being the current "opposition media" [29]. The differences between these two group of media outlets also arose in other contexts [30], such as institutional violence cases and crime.…”

Responding to COVID-19 in Latin American Prisons: The Cases of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico

“…Moreover, policymakers might be reluctant to apply these measures due to negative media coverage that can portrait judicial lenience and highlight sensationalist accounts of crimes committed by those released under special conditions. Thus, media can further exacerbate the fear of crime and encourage public opinion support for tougher laws to punish crime (Bonner, 2018). For example, public protests took place in Buenos Aires against the releases of incarcerated individuals under house arrest due to fear of crime and spread of the virus in the community (Cacerolazo: Fuerte protesta contra la excarcelación de presos, 2020).…”

Migration, Fears and the Media in the Presidential Election in Chile (2017)

“…Adicionalmente, extensa evidencia empírica relaciona la difusión de violencia por parte de los medios con altos niveles de ansiedad en la sociedad (Bonner, 2018;Dammert, 2012;Slone, 2000). El sensacionalismo y sentimentalismo con el cual los medios presentan las noticias sobre crímenes ha convertido a la víctima en un representante de la sociedad, traduciendo su experiencia a una común y colectiva, en lugar de representar una experiencia individual y atípica (Smolej;Kivivuori, 2008).…”

“…Es decir, propuestas que se basan en demandas sociales que se sienten desatendidas, muchas veces vinculadas con hechos escandalosos o de impunidad evidente, más que con una solución razonada y estudiada en materia criminal (Dobrynina, 2016). En este marco, el populismo punitivo no tiende a generar consensos, sino más bien a dividir la sociedad entre buenos y malos, criminales y víctimas, sospechosos y ciudadanos (Bonner, 2018;Dammert, 2019).…”