Comforting the comfortable: How the corporate media covered Chile’s October 2019 social explosion

In a land of devastating earthquakes, Chile experienced a tremor of historical proportions on 18 October 2019 when thousands of protestors flooded the streets and squares of this long and narrow South American country. It became known as the 'estallido social' - the social explosion. The protests reflected mass discontent with the political and financial elite - and its strong grip on the commercial mainstream media. This paper examines the media's coverage of the social explosion and argues that it was essentially designed to defend the privileges of the country's elite and criminalise the Chileans' demands for social change and justice. It also highlights the distinctive role played by the alternative media in challenging the consensus of the corporate media.