The criticism and the ombudsman: some questions about enunciation and discourse

Abstract

Facing many forms of media criticism, we propose, in this paper, the attention to the media criticism actualized in the ombudsman journalistic interventions. We suppose, from the point of view of discourse analysis, that such performance speaks about the journalism practices in relation to its field, as a whole, and in relation to the vehicle, in its editorial politics. Therefore, we suppose that the ombudsman reports also speak, at least as presupposition, sub-intention or allusion, about the discourses that circulate in a culture. In order to apprehend positions, circulating discourses and criticism exercises, we explore Paula Cesarino Costa’s articles in Folha de S. Paulo, pioneer newspaper in the ombudsman introduction, a presence since 1989. Our focus will be this ombudsman writings previously, concomitantly and subsequently to the truck-driver strike in May 2018, event chosen because of its temporal and geographical extent.