Uses of the risk glossary in magazines: contrasting

This paper is a contribution to the understanding of risk-talk in the media from a theoretical perspective of discursive Social Psychology. Two complementary strategies were used: diachronic analysis of a sample of a magazine of general interest (210 issues of Veja) and synchronic analysis of magazines directed to various types of people (101 magazines). For Veja, the analysis focused on article themes and date of publication. For the synchronic sample, priority was given to how risk is presented to different kinds of public. The analysis "over time" suggests that risk as danger and risk as probability glossaries are already well established and their use is a resonance of the historic contexts in which this tradition took shape. New repertoire emerges in the tradition of risk as adventure to refer to emotions associated with radical sports or to people who choose to take risks. This use of language is best seen in the flow of communication in which the public has a face, as in magazines directed to specific segments of the public.