Social discourse concerning pollution and contamination in Spain: Analysis of online comments by digital press readers Authors Arantza Begueria Department of Cultural Anthropology and the History of America and Africa, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia Cristina Larrea Department of Cultural Anthropology and the History of America and Africa, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia Araceli Muñoz Department of Cultural Anthropology and the History of America and Africa, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia Eva Zafra Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Catalonia. Jaume Mascaró-Pons Department of History of Philosophy, Aesthetics and Cultural Philosophy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia. Miquel Porta Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Catalonia; School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra. Catalonia; Ciber for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Abstract This article examines the online comments writien by readers of the major Spanish newspapers on the subject of pollution and contamination in Spain. The study off ers a comparative analysis of the perceptions, ideas and discourse of those who post comments in the cases of fi sh contaminated with mercury and atmospheric pollution in the city of Barcelona. The research includes analysis based on some methodological principles of Grounded Theory, and reports diff erences between perceptions of food contamination —felt as a severe, imminent and global health problem—and of air pollution —perceived as a social and political problem. Readers’ comments reveal a signifi cant tendency towards blaming the political and industrial sectors, among others, as well as a profound distrust of the institutions responsible for safeguarding public health. Keywords: atmospheric pollution; food contamination; internal contamination; digital press; readers’ comments; social perception of risk Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 10 No. 1 (2014) Section Research reviews License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
