Calor como entretenimento : uma análise das notícias televisivas do MT1 sobre as ondas de calor de 2023 em Cuiabá

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the journalistic coverage of the 2023 heat waves in Cuiabá on one of the main news programs in Mato Grosso, MT1, on TV Centro América, an affiliate of Rede Globo in the region. To this end, based on Content Analysis and Televisual Analysis methodologies, a news collection procedure was carried out in the program's recording repository, available on the G1 news portal. The contents were cataloged and organized in a spreadsheet with different categories and labels to prepare a qualitative analysis of the material, aiming to evaluate the frequency and volume of certain characteristics, the composition of the contents and their meanings and the newsworthiness criteria applied. The results indicate that topics surrounding extreme heat were designed for entertainment in a significant percentage of the news, using narrative expressions and visual resources that simplify the topic and reinforce regional stereotypes. In four of the nine reports analyzed, this focus was predominant, while six articles demonstrate the lack of scientific basis for the approaches, making it impossible to provide an appropriate contextualization of the subject, especially on the causes and consequences of heat waves, corroborating the naturalization of extreme phenomena. It is concluded that the material analyzed presents a tendency towards entertainment and reinforces a simplified view of climate change, which compromises the social function of journalism, especially scientific journalism.