So far this year, 86,500 articles have been published about Chile in the international press, of which a large part has been devoted to economic issues and the constitutional process, followed by innovation and sustainability, among others.
This year, two key topics about Chile have been on the international media agenda: the constituent process and the economy. This, according to information released by Imagen de Chile, a foundation dedicated to promoting the country's positive image abroad, and to identifying international perceptions of the country both in terms of studies and international press.
"After the boom in international coverage registered towards the end of 2021 due to the presidential elections, the year 2022 has had two news peaks in the international press: in March (13,100 publications) and in July (12,800). As every year of installation of a new government, from January to March the attention was focused on the formation of the new government, and the political decisions, mistakes and successes of the president who takes office", highlights Imagen de Chile in the report, which covers a selection of 158 priority international media from 18 countries around the world.
Of the 86,500 articles published on Chile so far this year in these selected media, the most covered topic by the international press has been the economy, with a total of 16,100 publications so far this year, well above the 5,400 that were recorded in all of 2021 and the 7,400 that were recorded in all of 2020, considering the 158 selected media. The media have covered subjects such as pension fund withdrawals, the global rise of the dollar, inflation, the measures taken by the Central Bank, as well as the estimated technical recession that the Chilean economy will reach during the year.
Politics was another topic that represented an important percentage of the publications, since the installation and first months of the government of President Gabriel Boric, as well as the special attention generated by the constituent process, which has given rise to 3,900 publications so far this year.
The third and fourth places are occupied by innovation and sustainability, which is largely explained by factors such as the development of renewable energies (green hydrogen and solar energy), the installation of satellite internet by the company Starlink, as well as the internationalization of three Chilean startups that reached the category of "unicorns".
"While the political and economic context explains the positioning of these issues in the media agenda, we see very positively the relevance that issues such as innovation and sustainability have acquired," says Constanza Cea, executive director of Imagen de Chile. "These areas have been boosted in recent years, with investments in renewable energies, milestones of international scope such as the turquoise policy, as well as the internationalization of companies such as NotCo and Betterfly, which have gone out into the world with projects of high social impact. And that is precisely what we want, that the world knows and values Chilean talent, and that they know that we are creating the future from Chile", he adds.
As last year, the 4 countries that publish the most articles on Chile are the United States, Mexico, Argentina and China.