The sustainability media communication of the Colombian Mining Industry

Abstract

When talking about sustainability as an intangible asset of modern organizations, strategic communication appears as the directive function called to promote the process on which the relationship with stakeholders is based and guarantees the triple benefit in the economy, society, and environment. Sustainability implies ethical action, commitment, coherence, and transparency towards the public and, the more effective the dialogue with them, the better results will be obtained for the parties. All types of organizations must work to articulate their activities to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Mass media generates visibility on the topics on the agenda, favors the assessment that public opinion makes of them, and contributes to the forma-tion of corporate reputation, which is influenced by this asset mentionedearlier. However, the sustainability of the mining industry has not been a privileged issue on the media agenda, and it is urgent to appropriate a preponderant space in it. Perhaps this does not guarantee the knowledge of all citizens, but it does help generate greater critical awareness about the impacts of the sector and the management that is being carried out to minimize them. In this way, the media would contribute with its edu-cational function, facilitating participation, debate, transformation, and the construction of a better society. This article presents the evaluation of the communication of socio-environmental issues regarding Colombian mining, in the three main national reference newspapers, during the years 2015 to 2019. The conclusions reveal that the industry has a high exposure, although not precisely because of the treatment of issues asso-ciated with sustainability. In addition, their media evaluation is negative in a greater percentage, which hurts their perception by public opinion.