Taking sides: the press and the 2006 Presidential elections

Authors

  • Alessandra Aldé Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
  • Gabriel Mendes Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro
  • Marcus Figueiredo Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/%25x

Abstract

Media behavior has become a central element in the study of elections today. Presidential elections, as disputes that are more personalized and have greater visibility, are privileged occasions for the study of journalistic coverage, for the purposes of understanding and evaluating their political implications. This article analyzes news reporting on the major candidates in the 2006 presidential dispute that appeared in the three major Brazilian daily newspapers enjoying nationwide circulation. Through the analysis of data collected by the Doxa Laboratory (Laboratory for Research on Political Communication and Public Opinion, part of the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro) between February 1 and October 1, 2006, we obtain a general sense of the positions that each news daily took in relation to the different candidates during crucial moments of the campaign. Keywords: criteria of “newsworthiness”; political journalism; media and democracy.

Author Biographies

Alessandra Aldé, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Alessandra Aldé é Professora e Pesquisadora do Programa de Apoio a Projetos Institucionais com a Participação de Recém-Doutores (Prodoc) e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação (PPGCOM) da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Endereço eletrônico: a.alde@uol.com.br

Gabriel Mendes, Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro

Gabriel Mendes é Doutorando em Ciência Política no Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (Iuperj), bolsista do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) e Pesquisador assistente do Doxa (Laboratório de Pesquisa em Comunicação Política e Opinião Pública do Iuperj). Endereço eletrônico: gmendes@iuperj.br.

Marcus Figueiredo, Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro

Marcus Figueiredo é Professor e Diretor de Pesquisa do Iuperj e coordenador do Doxa-Iuperj. Endereço eletrônico: mfigueiredo@iuperj.br.

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Published

2007-07-01

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 10 (2007)

Section

Special Issue 1 - Sociology and sociologists in Latin America: research, teaching, and interdisciplinarity in contemporary context

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