A Terceira Via à moda da casa: a cobertura do Drops/Estadão nas Eleições de 2022

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the coverage of the 2022 general elections by the newspaper Drops, the digital publication of O Estado de São Paulo on Instagram Stories. The vehicle was chosen because it belongs to Grupo Estado, owner of one of the most prestigious newspapers in the national and international political and economic scenario, and because of its simple and accessible language for all followers on the Meta group platform. During the research, we began to discuss the transformation processes that the digital world has undergone in the last 70 years and how this has impacted the way of producing, transmitting and consuming news. We understand that journalism is going through several aesthetic, physical and social transformations that have had a direct impact on the consumption and production of news in Brazil and in the world. Thus, Drops presents itself as a natural evolution of journalism, in an attempt to conquer new audiences and consumers, where time is the most precious asset. Modernity has transformed the way of living and technology has changed the way of consuming, forcing journalists to adapt. With shorter texts, the news must be even more striking and hold the reader. Given the maximum convergence of platforms, the use of videos, images, texts, gifs and emojis allow the message to be captured more quickly and clearly in a few seconds. Analyzing how these changes act in political journalism is an important factor for understanding the coverage of the general election, both in 2022 or in other coverages. We turn to the history of O Estado de São Paulo to understand how the group acts and acted in the country's political process during the Brazilian republican period. We can identify several manifestations and uses of journalism to influence scenarios that seemed unfavorable to the newspaper's owners. Drops comes to the election as an important vector of younger consumers in the São Paulo publication's news production. For 47 days we cataloged the articles related to the four best positioned candidates in polls of voting intentions for President of the Republic: Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Lula da Silva (PT), Simone Tebet (MDB) and Ciro Gomes (PDT). For the analysis we decided to use two methodological perspectives. At first, we carried out a quantitative survey of published articles about the four candidates. The goal was to understand what was generally being talked about at Drops. In a second moment, we used Discourse Analysis to understand the meanings mobilized by the publication about the emedebista candidate. She was chosen based on the newspaper's self-declaration in support of the third way, materialized in the candidate. From the analysis it was possible to identify a subversion of the concept of third way, as well as in the image produced about Simone Tebet. The origin of the candidate Simone Tebet was hidden, allying her to a national project that could be able to save the country. This can be justified in a clear attempt to build a new personality on the Brazilian right that is capable of absorbing voters who disagree with Brazilian politics and politicians. Simone stopped being a mother and a woman to be a manager of the future. The unification between the Content Analysis and Discourse Analysis methodologies was important for the comparison between what is easily observable and what was hidden within the Drops message. Quantifying enabled a more general analysis on the subject, understanding how, what are the direct impacts that newspaper coverage in stories can bring to society. The qualitative analysis allowed a deeper look into the message that was being conveyed to the followers of the @estadao profile.