Agents, spaces, and powers in dispute: a look at journalism's resistance strategies to attempts by the Executive to circumvent the right to information

Abstract

If the press is considered the "Fourth Power" – assigned by society and distinct from those of a constitutional nature – for overseeing the three powers of the Republic, with the advancement of the internet, the public gains strength, has countless possibilities for sharing content and starts to monitor the work of journalists, enabling a “Fifth State” (Dutton, Dubois 2015). In the mediatized public space, expanded with digital social networks, agents are in dispute for spaces and news circulation circuits. Among the marks of this tensioning, the actions of discrediting and questioning the work of the journalist stand out. Such a mismatch between assessments of what should be reported has resulted in conflicts and growing attacks on the press. As a response from Journalism, these cases began to be reported. In 2020, the "Guardians of Crivella" scheme organized to disrupt the work of the press was exposed on TV. In the article, the conflict narrated in a special report by Jornal Nacional on TV Globo is highlighted, seeking to understand the strategies used by the television news to defend freedom of the press. The elements used in constructing the narrative were observed through the Analysis of Audiovisual Materiality (Coutinho 2018) and interviews with journalists from the station. Through the concept of Dramaturgy of Telejournalism (Coutinho 2012), it was evidenced that in a scenario of dispute for information, journalists became victims, but also narrators of attacks on Journalism. The analysis pointed to the strengthening of the image of professionals as a reference for the dissemination of news and highlighted the risk of restricting the press for democracy