Even in 2020 in Brazil, and specifically in the Amazon Rainforest, there were numerous fires, to a worrying degree and at least as many as the previous year, which was described as one of the worst forest fire seasons of the last decade. Despite this, the issue was barely addressed in the media.
In part it is a result of the much needed media coverage of the pandemic, which among others has hit Brazil the most, where there have been over 170,000 deaths. Another possible reason has to do with language: if something happens in the United States, for example, there are more journalists on the spot covering the news, more English speakers to witness it and spread it on social media, and more users who from all over the world go to news sites to learn more about the issue. In this sense, it is not surprising that much more has been reported about the fires in Brazil than about the equally worrying fires in Bolivia, Colombia or Venezuela.
Another aspect involves the use of images and their potential to go viral. For the California fires last September, the shots that showed a darkened San Francisco sky, as well as those showing animals in distress during the Australian fires, had a great impact on people, and as such they went viral globally: the same cannot be said for today's fires in Brazil, where no photographs have been taken that have the potential to go viral.
