Publication Date

12-2016

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

7-27-2016

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Masters of Arts in History

Department

History

Major Advisor

Emily Wakild, Ph.D.

Advisor

Lisa Marie Brady, Ph.D.

Advisor

Jennifer A. Stevens, Ph.D.

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the diverse environmental narratives found in more than 200 stories published by two Mexican national newspapers, Excélsior and Uno Más Uno, in 1983 and 1984, a period of economic and environmental crisis. It argues that the popularity of environmental issues permitted column space for journalists, environmentalists, researchers, rural peasants, the urban poor, and government administrators to present their many different environmental narratives for the reading public’s consideration. Focusing on how journalists and their sources described air pollution, forests, and water crises in the pages of Excélsior and Uno Más Uno, this thesis brings out many of the common themes and persuasive tactics these narrative crafters utilized in their efforts to imprint an environmental perception on the national population. While environmentalists, researchers, and the poor contributed narratives which illuminated environmental crises and blamed them on Mexico’s industries and federal government, a smaller number of government spokespeople constructed narratives which promoted an environmentally-friendly image of a government that was attuned to these crises and best suited to address them.

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