The Impact of Media on the Perception of Corruption: An Analysis Based on Colombia’s Anti-Corruption Portal, 2020-2023

Abstract

Mass media plays a key role in constructing nar- ratives about corruption, thus influencing public opinion. Using quantitative methods and lin- guistic analysis (word frequency and trigrams), this study analyzes 477 news articles from Co- lombia’s Anti-Corruption Portal (PACO) between 2020 and 2023. The findings reveal that: (1) 31% of the news articles were published in 2021 and focused on national cases (31%), particularly of government corruption; (2) Caracol Radio and W Radio were the most active media outlets (25% of the total); (3) the terms “corrupción” (corruption) (2,984 repetitions) and “contratos” (contracts) (2,303 repetitions) dominated the corpus, with recurrent trigrams such as “Pro- grama de Alimentación Escolar” (School Meals Program) and “Corte Suprema de Justicia” (Su- preme Court of Justice). However, the research found that the cases were treated superficially, prioritizing media impact over rigorous analy- sis. As a contribution, we propose a three-stage methodology (identification, verification, and characterization) to assess risks to public re- sources. We conclude that media outlets should deepen verifiable investigations, facilitating cit- izen oversight through accessible sources. This work broadens the discussion on the ethical role of journalism in the fight against corrup- tion, based on empirical evidence from the Latin American context.