Approximations of Environmental Journalism with Paulo Freire’s thought

Abstract

This article reflects on the approximations between the assumptions that constitute the perspective of Environmental Journalism and Paulo Freire’s thought, who turned 100 in 2021. For this, it carries out bibliographical research to understand the affinity of Paulo Freire’s ideas with epistemological aspects that guide this journalistic practice in a specific way, such as the responsibility for the change in thinking, the emphasis on contextualizing information and the plurality of voices consulted for journalistic coverage. In this sense, it observes the adherence to the critique of coloniality in the Latin American context, and the emphasis given to dialogicity, to the appreciation of experience, and to emancipation and liberation, fundamental elements in the author’s work. Such points of convergence reinforce Environmental Journalism’s commitment to a paradigm change in thinking, especially with regard to the society-nature relationship, valuing the dialogue of knowledge and sustaining decolonial criticism in the production of qualified information that can emancipate citizens. It concludes that Freire’s dialogic perspective can contribute to the practice of Environmental Journalism, since its theory defends the transition to a world of environmental protection and social justice.