Social representations of readers in digital press on the case Marina Kué (2012-2014)

Abstract

The Marina Kue case can be considered one of the most serious social problems experienced by the peasantry in the last decade in Paraguay, where 11 peasants and 6 policemen died after a dubious fiscal-police operation in 2012, with a high political impact national and internationally. This research aimed to analyze the social representations exposed by newspapers readers through their comments on the website of two newspapers with the largest circulation in the period 2012-2014. The methodology was exploratory with a qualitative approach. The study included 5,734 comments from opinion readers in 331 articles corresponding to five key moments of the process. The data were analyzed through content analysis techniques, with coding and categorization procedures based on previous theoretical support. As a result, it was found that the majority blamed the government of former president Fernando Lugo for what happened between the peasants and the police. Likewise, they affirmed that although there were criticisms and disappointment towards the government, the National Congress proceeded in an irregular way to dismiss the president through an impeachment carried out in a record time without giving him time to prepare his defense. The readers disqualified the management of the Parliament and political parties by not promoting actions that carry out a good governmental system and directly engaging in a disguised coup d’état, with legality but without legitimacy. On the category of Justice, it was seen as an invisible practice in the problem questioning it for not proceeding quickly to stop the peasants. In the theme “distribution of land”, they placed peasants as criminals, lazy and invaders. In the category of “actors involved”, they focused on the problems between the peasants and police, peasants and landowners, placing peasants as solely responsible for not respecting private property. The category “scenarios” during the Marina Kue Case process, according to readers’ representations, were democratic spaces where the use of the impeachment was allowed, and different expressions of discontent were found towards party political representations. The “land problem” could be solved through an agrarian reform program, although more emphasis was placed on the respect for private property. In relation to “interests and disputes” a high degree of disqualification, insults and criticism towards the publications and the newspaper itself and, to a lesser extent, towards other readers were visualized. Based on the comments of the publications, new ideas and thoughts arose about what happened like that it was a diversion when the country was dealing with important issues such as the unblocking of the so-called “sheet list” which produced several demonstrations at the time of the events.