In some countries that had recently experienced severe food crisis, transgenics received a strong rejection from the population. In such countries, the media had an important role in the critical discussion and in the dissemination of environmental organizations or consumers' arguments about transgenics. The goal of this research was to verify which are the social representations of transgenic displayed by Brazilian media. All articles published on this theme by A Folha de São Paulo and O Estado de São Paulo, from 2000 to 2005, were gathered. Data were analyzed with the aid of the software ALCESTE. Results show that the national media tend to legitimate risk rather than to build social representations that could be used as critical arms towards the country's development models and its consequences on future generations.
social representations; media; transgenic
