Campo Elías Delgado En El Espejo De Los Medios: Un Estudio Sociológico De La Representación Del Crimen

Abstract

This investigation analyzes how the newspaper El Tiempo constructed the media image of Campo Elías Delgado and the motives attributed to his crime. Through a qualitative approach and using Grounded Theory, an open, axial and selective coding of the journalistic articles was carried out, identifying core categories such as "Media Construction of Crime", "Psychological Aspects and Mental Health of the Individual" and "Social Context and Previous Experiences". The findings reveal that the media analyzed mainly attributed Campo Elías Delgado's actions to psychopathy, establishing it as the fundamental cause of the massacre. This focus on an individual explanation simplified complex narratives and contributed to the stigmatization of the individual, ignoring social and contextual factors. This demonstrates how the media can influence public perception, highlighting the importance of a critical analysis of media representations and their social implications.