Use of Twitter to gain mainstream media attention: A case study of environmental NGOs during Barrancones and Castilla conflicts in Chile

Abstract

This dissertation examines the strategies and tactics employed by environmental
nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) on Twitter to gain mainstream press
coverage during environmental conflicts. This problem is approached by
studying the conflicts of Barrancones and Castilla thermoelectric plants in Chile
between 2010 and 2012. Analyzing tweets and news articles by means of
descriptive content analysis, the study finds that using Twitter to discuss these
conflicts is one of the factors that lead ENGOs' media visibility. In particular, it
reveals that these organizations employ, simultaneously, two strategic
orientations and six different tactics to call journalists' attention. The
information strategy includes research, grassroots and opinion tactics, trying to
provide reporters with data and viewpoints directly. The activism strategy
comprises awareness, mobilization and organization of collective actions tactics,
co-producing news stories indirectly by means of events and issue salience. The
implications of these results are discussed in the discussion and conclusions.