Reclaiming the Social Legitimacy of Journalism in Polarised Environments: Lessons from Chile and Bolivia

Abstract

The relationship between political polarisation and the erosion of trust in the news has been at the centre of public and academic discussions in the past decade. In this chapter, we explore this issue in a Latin American context using Chile and Bolivia as comparative case studies to explore the challenges posed to journalistic practice in contexts of political polarisation. The starting point for this comparison is the events experienced in both countries in 2019: the unexpected social uprising that opened a constitutional process in Chile, and the institutional crisis that ended the presidential mandate of Evo Morales in Bolivia. Based on the analysis of secondary data, in the chapter we identify similarities in both cases, such as increasing levels of scrutiny towards journalistic products, accusations of biased coverage, an increased risk of violence and harassment against journalists, and declining levels of media trust. Also, we identify differences in the way professional journalism reacted to such environment and analyse the extent to which journalism played a role in polarisation processes.