Beyond smart crowds. The media effect of citizen mobilizations around the peace agreements in Colombia

Résumé 0

. Objective: This article analyzes the citizen mobilizations that demanded a definitive peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, between October and November 2016. To that end, these expressions of social protest are compared with previous social mobilization events during the negotiation stage. This analytical exercise aims to identify the visibility, resonance and legitimacy that these forms of social mobilization received from some of the main Colombian media. Methodology: Based on a mixed approach methodology which simultaneously combines and integrates qualitative and quantitative data, we utilize different conceptual references that have drawn attention to the close relationships of social movements and the media. For this purpose, a database was built in which news events about the peace process were recorded between January 2013 and December 2016. From that set of news, we chose those that referred to the mobilizations for or against the peace agreements. This information was systematized from a matrix in which the news events were typified, distinguishing the informative bias between negative, neutral or positive, as well as typifying the actor or actors involved in the news and the bias attributed to each one. Conclusions: The information analyzed establishes that the citizen mobilizations in favor of achieving a definitive peace agreement, in October and November 2016, had a more visible and favorable media positioning, and at the same time, were more effective or legitimate than the other cycles of protest experienced during the negotiation process. In this way, the article provides evidence that accounts for the media impact of such mobilizations in the public opinion process around peace agreements in Colombia. Originality: By analyzing and describing the new forms of collective action that have emerged in Colombia in recent years, from innovative conceptual and methodological references, it is possible to identify how repertoires of action have been transformed, as well as the demands and mobilization strategies of social movements, all of which account for the effectiveness of these expressions of mobilizations for peace compared to previous forms of collective action.