Newspaper Coverage of Presidential Elections in Brazil Alessandra Aldé 1 Gabriel Mendes 2

Transcription

1 Newspper Coverge of Presidentil Elections in Brzil Alessndr Aldé 1 Gbriel Mendes 2 Abstrct Since 2000, the Dox/Iuperj Reserch Center on Politicl Communiction nd Public Opinion hs developed nd pplied specific methodology s well s cquired significnt dtbse on journlistic coverge of elections in Brzil 3. We hve studied three municipl (myor) nd two generl elections (president nd Stte governors) nd their coverge by severl Brzilin newsppers cross sttes nd cpitls. Our methodology is bsed on exhustive dt on morphologicl nd substntive news items, with quntittive nd qulittive vribles, nd our gol is to observe the symbolic role plyed by Brzilin politicl press coverge in electorl contexts, building on the estblished perspective on the influence of medi prctices on politicl culture nd behvior. This pper presents comprtive study of the min results of the 2002 nd 2006 presidentil elections, highlighting the disprity between the lleged objectivity nd imprtility of newsppers, nd their behvior s politicl gents during election cmpigns. The nlysis llowed us to drw conclusions on the behvior of three min Brzilin newsppers (O Globo, from Rio de Jneiro; nd Folh de São Pulo nd Estdo de São Pulo) on the occsion of Lul s first election, in 2002, nd of his re-election in The study reveled differences mong newsppers on specific politicl ctors nd cmpign issues. Introduction Medi behvior hs become centrl element in contemporry electorl studies. Presidentil elections, with incresed personliztion nd visibility of the contest, re significnt occsions to observe the journlistic coverge, in order to understnd nd evlute its politicl implictions. This rticle nlyses the news published by the three min dily newsppers in Brzil O Globo, Folh de São Pulo nd O Estdo de São Pulo bout the presidentil cndidtes to the lst two generl elections. Bsed on dt collected by Dox between Februry 1 st nd Election Dy, we cn define in generl lines the position tken by ech pper towrds the cndidtes in the crucil moments of the cmpign. 1 Professor of Politicl Communiction t the Stte University of Rio de Jneiro (UERJ). PhD in Politicl Science nd ssocite resercher t Dox/Iuperj (Politicl Communiction nd Public Opinion Reserch Center/Institute of University Reserch of Rio de Jneiro). 2 Politicl Science doctorte student t Iuperj (Institute of University Reserch of Rio de Jneiro), resercher of Dox (Politicl Communiction nd Public Opinion Reserch Center). 3 Dox is coordinted by Professor Mrcus Figueiredo, PhD in Politicl Science nd scholr t Iuperj.

2 The present pper intends to explin our methodology, using s exmples the two lst presidentil elections, nd detiling some interesting spects of the coverge concerning the min cndidtes, but lso some very illustrting supporting ctors, tht did not rech the second round but received gret medi ttention, reveling more clerly the politicl preferences of the ppers. After ll, the greter visibility of the two min cndidtes hs itself n effect of restrining news editors of being too prtil. On the other hnd, minor cndidtes my provide the occsion to, indirectly, ttck other cndidcies. It is worth mentioning tht Brzilin medi does not show trdition of medi criticism, responding negtively to ny ttempt to regulte or publish medi wtch results 4. Although our reserch reltes to other experiences on medi wtch, one of the min chrcteristics the observtories in generl shre is to set prmeters in which journlism should perform, mesuring nd judging ccording to some normtive expecttions. On our prt, we do not intend to sy how journlists should behve. We present dt rigorously collected nd drw prtil conclusions bsed on comprison between different ppers, different cndidtes on the sme ppers, the sme ppers cross time tht llows us to identify ptterns of behvior. This empiricl pproch, lthough it my seem conservtive to some, provides us with very solid stndpoint from which to nlyze Brzilin medi, considered to hve plyed decisive role on mny moments of our recent politicl history. Methodology The methodology we present ws firstly developed by Dox reserchers for the municipl elections of 2000, nd hs been pplied nd refined during the subsequent elections 5. Its objective is to quntify, qulify nd compre news nd imges published bout ech cndidte. Quntifiction, over lrge time spns nd with the possibility of compring newsppers one to nother nd to dt from pst elections, llows us to identify tendencies, convergences nd discrepncies in the editoril behvior of the ppers lwys ccounting for the specific context of ech election, of course. 4 As could be seen in severl occsions, including the ttempted cretion, encourged by Lul s government, of Journlism Federl Council, gency tht would regulte the profession, which ws received with violent rejection by the compnies nd professionls s well. 5 Prt of this specific reserch, s well s rticles nd ppers on Brzilin politicl communiction by Dox reserchers, cn be found t

3 All items editorils, fetures, rticles, photogrphs, grphics with one or more of the cndidtes nmes were recorded. Our dtbse ws pplied dily by Dox s reserch tem, during election yers, to Brzilin min newsppers 6. Ech piece ws clssified ccording to nine morphologicl ctegories; six dditionl ctegories refer to news content. The ccumulted clssified dt is well beyond our scope in the present pper, forcing us to present n initil selection nd to only outline future reserch possibilities. We present below, therefore, the min nlysis ctegories, lthough the description of results is limited to visibility nd evlution. 1. Identifiction of ech entry by dte nd pper title, nd clssifiction of news pieces ccording to pge number, formt 7 nd position 8, elements tht contribute to evlute the prominence received by the electorl issue in generl nd by ech cndidte Issue: the politicl gend proposed by newsppers; llows the identifiction of electorl gend, fvoring the understnding of the context in which we find cndidtes nmes. 3. Frmes dopted by newsppers, i.e. the min perspectives relted to cmpigns issues. Clssified into horserce (opinion surveys, competition nlysis, prospects); personlistic (profile, personlity, personl record), issue (substntive tretment of issues) nd episodic (fcts, events, gend). 4. Visibility: the number of times cndidte s nme is mentioned in ech news story. Allows us to identify the volume of news on ech cndidte over time. 5. Qulifiction or evlution ech item nlyzed to determine whether it ws is positive, negtive or neutrl towrd ech cndidte. This lst vrible is lible to greter degree of subjectivity, nd hs been questioned even by journlists themselves; it deserves, therefore, further detiling of the criteri 6 For the 2008 municipl elections, the included dilies were: O Globo, Jornl do Brsil, Estdo de São Pulo, Folh de São Pulo, Gzet Mercntil, Vlor Econômico, Correio Brziliense. 7 News story; Signed rticle; Editoril; Signed section; crtoon / photo / grphic; First pge reference; Section comment. 8 All pge; Upper hlf; Bottom hlf; Upper right qurter; Upper left qurter; Bottom right qurter; Bottom left qurter. 9 Cmrgos (2000) suggests n index to evlute the globl editoril importnce of news piece for the newspper, combining s indictors first pge reference, pge number nd position.

4 we hve deployed to diminish discrepncy in the ppliction by different nlysts. In the first plce, we decided for the impossibility of sserting the presence of intentionl bis in ech journlistic piece, considering tht such purpose would llow vriety of subjective interprettions; so we decided to verify whether the informtion or opinion published, per se, is negtive or positive for the cndidte, regrdless of the eventul intention to hrm one or nother. The publiction of vote intention surveys, thus, does not represent n ct of position tking by the newspper, but will be clssified s negtive or positive for given cndidte ccording to his or her poll result. How my we, then, evlute politicl position tking by the ppers? We believe tht this is possible when we compre nd verify different behvior mong the ppers given for exmple the sme survey, one newspper decides to emphsize the growth of cndidte, while nother will spend mny pges commenting the fll of nother or by the sme ppers over time. Ech medi plyer chooses to give more or less room to different events, issues nd politicins, nd to present these stories in positive or negtive light. It is lso possible to nlyze differences in the tretment given to cndidtes through the ssocition to issues nd through the frmes displyed by news stories. In this sense, we confirm tht news medi do not reflect plinly n externl relity, but interpret the politicl world for their reders. Through the process of selecting nd frming events, owners, editors nd reporters stte their preferences, nd we intend to mesure them through quntifiction. We consider s hving positive evlution stories with or bout cndidte which publish his/her progrm; promises; declrtions of the cndidte or of the story s uthor or of third prties (persons or institutions) fvorble (contining morl, politicl or personl evlution) to the cndidte; reproduction of the cndidte s ttcks to dversries, poll results or fvorble comments. Negtive evlution corresponds to stories bout the cndidte with criticism or ttcks (contining morl, politicl or personl evlution) from the story s uthor, other cndidtes or third prties; poll results or unfvorble comments. We consider neutrl stories on cndidte gend, or ny mention of the cndidte without morl, politicl or personl evlution of the cndidte, by the story s uthor or third

5 prties, including his/her opponents 10. We lso consider, in estblishing the evlution of story, tht editoril elements s title, subhedings nd cptions contin indictives of the story s orienttion, nd must be considered for ctegoriztion. Prtil totliztions of our dt regrding visibility nd evlution were published every two weeks during election yer on Dox s website, serving one of our reserch ims, nmely to inform the electorl process itself, llowing for brodened debte on the qulity of electorl informtion vilble for the common citizen 11. It is by the detiling of two cses, the elections of 2002 nd 2006, tht we intend to exemplify the possibilities of our methodology. Although our dt llows mnifold nlysis, such s bsed on frmes or issues, we will disply the results for visibility nd evlution. High visibility of the 2002 Presidentil elections: The gretest coverge The Presidentil election of 2002 hd gret visibility in Brzilin medi 12. Minstrem print newsppers with ntionl relevnce count only three dilies, published in the two most importnt cities: Rio de Jneiro nd São Pulo. This three ppers Folh de São Pulo, O Estdo de São Pulo nd O Globo filled their pges over the whole electorl yer with news, comments, editorils, sections, pictures nd ll kinds of journlistic stuff regrding the cmpign tht culminted with the election of Luis Inácio d Silv, the populr Lul, of PT (Workers Prty), to the Presidency. Besides Lul, the 2002 election brought up s cndidtes José Serr, of PSDB (Brzilin Socil-Democrt Prty, the sme of reelected President Fernndo Henrique Crdoso ( nd ), Ciro Gomes, of PPS (Populr Socilist Prty), Anthony Grotinho (former governor of Rio de Jneiro, of the Socilist Brzilin Prty), s well s two minor Communist cndidtes, Rui Piment nd José Mri. The 2002 election 10 In the cse of equl mounts of fvorble nd unfvorble mentions, we included for the 2006 nlysis the ctegory equilibrted, wheres in 2002 we still mrked those s neutrl too. For scope of comprison, we present here, for 2006, ggregted results for neutrl nd equilibrted 11 Or, t lest, citizens who red print newsppers, numericlly limited public, but whose politicl influence in nonetheless relevnt, for they re considered qulified to serve s reference for informtion nd frmes. 12 The gretest coverge of ll ws precisely the slogn of Rede Globo, the biggest Brzilin network, contrsting with the two ltest presidentil elections.

6 ws the first one in which Dox s methodology ws pplied to monitor Presidentil elections. Trough this reserch we were ble, besides observing the nture of newspper coverge in its mny nunces, to relte it to the election s specific events. All cndidtes hd gret visibility, incresing with the pproch of Election Dy nd following some tendencies lredy noticed in other elections. Ptterns of visibility re very similr on ll newsppers studies, s cn be seen in the grphs below. Visibility on O Globo (two-week periods) /02 05/03 06/03 19/03 20/03 02/04 03/04 16/04 17/04 30/04 01/05 14/05 15/05 28/05 29/05 11/06 12/06 25/06 26/06 09/07 10/07 23/07 24/07 06/08 07/08 20/08 21/08 03/09 04/09 17/09 18/09 04/10 José Serr (PSDB) Grotinho (PSB) Lul (PT) Ciro Gomes (PPS) Zé M ri (PSTU) Rui Piment (PCO) Visibility on O Estdo de São Pulo (two-week periods) /02 05/03 06/03 19/03 20/03 02/04 03/04 16/04 17/04 30/04 01/05 14/05 15/05 28/05 29/05 11/06 12/06 25/06 26/06 09/07 10/07 23/07 24/07 06/08 07/08 20/08 21/08 03/09 04/09 17/09 18/09 06/10 José Serr (PSDB) Rosen (PFL) Grotinho (PSB) Lul (PT) Ciro Gomes (PPS) Zé M ri (PSTU) Rui Piment (PCO) The nlysis of Lul s coverge revels, first of ll, the enormous ttention his cmpign ws ble to ttrct. More significnt, however, is the evlution figures, tht find

7 n expressive turning point on definite biweekly period: newspper go from predominntly negtive coverge to n openly positive one when ll four cndidtes hve forml meeting with President Fernndo Henrique Crdoso, nd mke public greement to mintin his orthodox economic policy. From tht point on, ll ppers, s exemplified by O Estdo de São Pulo, were more positive bout the leftist cndidte, previously ssocited to economic instbility. The most emblemtic cse, though, illustrting the symbiotic reltion between medi nd cmpign, is not tht of the president to be, but of secondry ctor: the rpid rise in opinion polls, nd subsequent press bombing, of Ciro Gomes. Young Ciro, former governor of Cerá, stte in poor Northest, ws contending José Serr for the second position, which would led to the second round dispute ginst fvorite Lul 13. In this election, Gomes ws mimed the most by the editoril decisions of the mjority of minstrem medi. He becme progressively newsworthy s he boomed in opinion polls, shortly fter his prty s free propgnd ws ired on ll chnnels of Brzilin television. Following the rise in the preference of the electorte nd his growth in the medi, to the point of surpssing José Serr nd thretening Lul s hegemony, cme 13 Brzilin electorl system estblishes second round between the two cndidtes with most votes, in cities bigger then inhbitnts nd when no cndidte wins more thn 50% lredy on the first round. In the first round results (vlid votes) were: Lul (PT) 46,4%, Serr (PSDB) 23,2%, Grotinho (PSB) 17,8%, Ciro Gomes (PPS) 11,9%. Second round gve victory to Lul, with 61,2%, ginst 38,7% obtined by José Serr.

8 hrd ttcks nd criticism. From tht point, ny flse step of the cndidte deserved mny dys of hedlines, stories nd crtoons, mplified s it ws by ll communiction mens. Actully, Brzilin press ws giving publicity in its pges to the cmpign strtegy of the cndidte Gomes ws mencing to bet: José Serr. Left behind in the polls, Serr begn direct tctic of negtive cmpign, in which he ws followed by minstrem medi. The nti-ciro convergence works; ttcks from the dversry cmpign nd from the medi mnge to interrupt his scent, trnsforming this episode in n emblemtic cse of cndidte deconstruction in the new scenrio of professionl electorl cmpigns in Brzil. Electorl news bout cndidte Ciro Gomes Third in the polls s fr s the middle of the electorl yer, Ciro Gomes experiences spectculr growth in his vote intentions in July, fter his prty ired two propgnd progrms on Brzilin television 14. In this moment, the PPS cndidte surpsses the second plced José Serr, seeming to thret even Lul in second round projections. This ttempted new polriztion promotes, t first, positive effect on the journlistic coverge, s the rise in the polls cuses wve of positive stories nd grphs for Ciro Gomes. His scent in opinion surveys becomes the min election event during tht month, illustrting the influence of significnt shifts on polls on generting visibility. We divided the collection of news items on two weeks periods, nd the nlysis of this chronology is useful to understnd the dynmics of medi-cmpign reltion. From the end of June to the end of July (period 10 to period 12), Ciro s visibility rises on ll three newsppers. Folh goes from 372 to 717 mentions of the cndidte, nd OESP goes from 202 to 514; O Globo follows the tendency, rising from 393 to 903 mentions of his nme. These ppritions would continue to rise during the following weeks. Observing the grphics, it is possible to identify n intense visibility wve for Ciro Gomes from June to the end of August. 14 Brzilin prties re grnted free television irtime for prty propgnd every yer. On election yers, this mounts to hlf hour dily on ll open chnnels, prime time. More informtion bout Brzilin electorl rules cn be found on the website of the Superior Electorl Court (

9 Visibility on Folh de São Pulo (tw o-w eek periods) /02 05/03 06/03 19/03 20/03 02/04 03/04 17/04 01/05 15/05 16/04 30/04 14/05 28/05 29/05 12/06 11/06 25/06 26/06 10/07 23/07 09/07 24/07 06/08 07/08 20/08 21/08 03/09 04/09 18/09 17/09 06/10 José Serr (PSDB) Rosen (PFL) Grotinho (PSB) Lul (PT) Ciro Gomes (PPS) Zé M ri (PSTU) Rui Piment (PCO) Ciro Gomes hd not ppered very much on the ppers until then. When he did, in the beginning of the yer, his visibility ws mde positive by the solidrity he demonstrted towrds his wife, the ctress nd str of Brzilin min television chnnel, Rede Globo Ptríci Pillr, submitted to cncer tretment. It seemed like promising cmpign. In Mrch, the cndidte mnged to rticulte n llince with two significnt prties, PDT nd PTB. Besides, he ws pproching the min conservtive prty, PFL, which considered supporting Ciro s cndidcy. All these episodes generted positive stories on the medi. Occsionlly, however, one or nother would focus on Ciro Gomes untimely temper, or mplify polemic declrtions bout bortion nd qurrels with voters. From the beginning of July, when Ciro jumped on the polls, the coverge given him by the ppers increses in bsolute terms, nd is predominntly positive. There is good mentioning of the PTB television progrm, strred by Ciro Gomes in spite of legl restrin by electorl justice. Ppers lso publish prises mde bout him by Tsso Jeressiti, one of the leders of PSDB, prty of José Serr, Ciro s min dversry. Mny PFL leders declre their informl support. Prognostics show tht Ciro could bet Lul on second round. The cndidte lives moment of good news nd positive gend. Nevertheless, the medi soon finds n inexhustible source of negtive news bout Ciro: Serr s own cmpign, engged in ttcking his competitor nd ble to hve his rguments mplified by the press. It ws the beginning of the deconstruction of the

10 cndidte on the pges of Folh, Globo nd Estdão, in ccord with the strtegy of his min dversry. One of the recurrent issues is the ssocition of Ciro to ex-president Fernndo Collor, who renounced his mndte in 1992 on chrges of corruption, nd supposed lies of the PPS cndidte. Ciro, on his turn, contributed to his own negtive imge, being cught in dilogues, interviews nd situtions with elements tht could be used ginst him in the pges of newsppers. During the following months, Serr nd Ciro go on exchnging ccustions, for the lter lso blmes Serr of mudslinging. Newsppers, on their turn, give relevnce to mutul ttcks, first in the cndidtes internet websites, then in the television ds. The result is bd for both, but especilly disstrous for Ciro Gomes, who is forced to go defensive. Ciro Gomes imge, on the politics nd elections pges of newsppers, becomes tht of distempered mn, someone who ttcks journlists nd citizens, s in n episode t the University of Brsili, when he discussed with blck student bout ffirmtive ction, tht insistently republished. His politicl supporters re clssified by the ppers s the powers of bckwrdness nd his progrm s contrdictory. Their pges give room to negtive pictures, s n elector of Lul who, rms folded, refuses the hnd to Ciro. The cndidte, on his prt, criticizes Lul, the government nd lso the medi. His lies s investigted nd denied by the press, nd his proposls criticized by specilists through rguments of uthority. In the beginning of August, in spite of lredy being ttcked in the news, Ciro hs his best score on the vote-intention polls, reching 28%. The ppers even mention his technicl evenness with Lul in theoreticl second round between the two of them, s the PT cndidte decresed slightly in voter preference. Gomes smll useless lies receive gret visibility, s when he stted hving lwys studied in public schools, nd ws discovered he hd, in fct, spent six months in privte high school. A declrtion of September 1 st, the his wife s role in his cmpign ws to sleep with him, hs enormous negtive prominence in the news, dilting for mny weeks, the cndidte s pologies on rdio nd TV electorl progrms mplifying the resonnce of the event. Wht we see during the lst months of cmpign, thus, is the growth of the mount of cittions of the cndidte nd, t the sme time, the increse of negtive news in

11 minstrem medi. Worth ttention re the opposite tendencies of the positive nd negtive evlution curves (see grphs below) fter his jump in visibility. From the moment he chieves the dilies pges, Ciro Gomes negtive coverge increses, s well s positive news decrese. In Folh de São Pulo, for exmple, the cndidte flls from 34% positive entries in the 10/07-23/07 period to 4% in the first weeks of September. Accordingly, his negtive coverge rises from 10% in the first two weeks of July to pek of 37% by the end of August. Evlution of stories published on O Globo for cndidte Ciro Gomeses 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 20/02 05/03 06/03 19/03 20/03 02/04 03/04 16/04 17/04 01/05 15/05 30/04 14/05 28/05 29/05 11/06 12/06 25/06 26/06 10/07 23/07 09/07 24/07 06/08 07/08 20/08 21/08 03/09 04/09 17/09 18/09 04/10 Positiv Negtiv Neutr Vlênci ds mtéris publicds no OESP pr o cndidto Ciro Gomes 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 20/ 02 06/ 03 20/ 03 05/ 03 19/ 03 02/ 04 03/ 04 16/ 04 17/ 04 30/ 04 01/ 05 14/ 05 15/ 05 29/ 05 28/ 05 11/ 06 12/ 06 26/ 06 25/ 06 09/ 07 10/ 07 23/ 07 24/ 07 07/ 08 06/ 08 20/ 08 21/ 08 04/ 09 03/ 09 17/ 09 18/ 09 06/ 10 Positiv Negtiv Neutr

12 On O Globo nd O Estdo de São Pulo, inflections re even more cute. In OESP, negtive news bout the PPS cndidte go from 26% in the 10/07-23/07 period up to 49% by the end of August nd first hlf of September. On O Globo, positive mentions fll from 44% in 10/01-23/07 to 16% during the lst two weeks of September. Negtive reference rise from 15% in the beginning of July to 40% in the beginning of September in consonnce with the other dilies nd with José Serr s cmpign strtegy. Journlistic coverge of the 2006 Presidentil cmpign: the opposition medi Differently from Brzilin Presidentil elections during the 90s, in which Lul ws lwys the opposition cndidte for PT, the next two elections 2002 nd 2006 received gret ttention by ntionl news medi. 1994, yer of Fernndo Henrique Crdoso s first election, ws mrked by n economic pln, the Rel, which ws responsible for his election, s former minister of finnce. The news were ll tken by good stories on economic performnce, which ided Crdoso s election, but showed little room for discussing election itself nd its cndidtes. On 1998, news bout the process the ended up reelecting FHC were even scrcer. On 2002, s we hve seen, the ppers under nlysis chose to give gret visibility to the presidentil election. The difference in regrd to the previous elections ws evident (see Miguel, 2003). Four yers lter, on 2006, electorl coverge ws even more intense, judging by our reserch prmeters. During the first two weeks, from Februry 1 st, long wy before the electorl period, O Globo mentions 1129 times the nme of possible presidentil cndidtes. OESP counts 1206 mentions nd Folh de São Pulo, Such intense coverge would only increse in the subsequent periods nd in ll newspper sections. The methodology we developed llows dt ctegoriztion; so, bsed on the different types of entry, we were ble to seprte the informtive (stories, photogrphs, grphics, first pge titles nd internl titles nd subtitles) from the opinion prt (editorils, uthoril sections, notes nd humoristic drwings). On doing so, we verified tht, for informtive s well s opinion pieces fcts, versions, comments, specultions, projections nd conjectures the 2006 presidentil cmpign hd n

13 impressive presence on ntionl news ll yer long. Considering the whole period (from Februry to October), OESP mentions some cndidte s nme times on informtive pieces, nd on opinion texts. As for Folh de São Pulo, the cndidtes re mentioned respectively nd times; the figures for O Globo re nd Both ctegories ggregted, the lst dys before the second round (period from 13/9 to 01/10) nd the first period fter it (02/10 to 16/10), Lul cndidte 15 received respectively 570 nd 672 entries. During the sme period, O Globo mentioned Lul cndidte 569 nd 666 times; on OESP, he ws mentioned 465 nd 484. Gerldo Alckmim, the PSDB cndidte nd min dversry, with whom Lul contested the second round, ws mentioned on 364 nd 571 journlistic pieces on Folh; 300 nd 535 on O Globo; nd 225 nd 384 on O Estdo de São Pulo. Visibility of the President-nd-cndidte Lul, while exercising the Presidency (Lul president), lso hd high visibility during the electorl yer s whole 16. Dox s methodology llows us to ffirm tht the constnt presence of the chief of the Federl Executive brnch is common tendency for ll the newsppers reserched. Adding the ppritions s cndidte to the cittions s president, more thn two thirds of the totl coverge dedicted to Lul. Even considering tht prt of this ppritions is due to prticiption in stte ffirs, for exmple in economic or interntionl fetures, it is still mssive coverge. As interntionl reserch lso shows, presidentil systems like Americn nd Brzilin lso contribute to the focus on the President. 15 Our clssifiction considered seprtely the mentions to Lul: when he ppered cmpigning s cndidte, in polls etc., nd when he fetured government functions (Lul president). 16 We do not use the sme distinction Alckmin cndidte nd Alckmin governor, elected four yers before given our focus on the presidentil election. A qulittive pproch to the news, however, suggests tht Não fizemos mesm distinção entre Gerldo Alckmin como cndidto e como governdor de São Pulo, ddo nosso foco n disput ncionl (Alckmin foi eleito em 2002 pr 4 nos de mndto como governdor). Um nálise mis qulittiv dos ddos coletdos pelo modelo proposto mostr que o cndidto do PSDB esteve presente no noticiário como governdor, principlmente nos jornis pulists, té definição d cndidtur de seu prtido. Além disso, diferentemente de Lul, Alckmin, por seu do executivo estdul, teve que se fstr do crgo pr concorrer à Presidênci.

14 One exmple of the effects of visibility is the behvior of O Estdo de São Pulo. Although publishing overll less entries (6537) thn Folh (7269) or O Globo (7019), OESP is the only pper on which in no period ny other presidentil cndidte is more cited thn Lul. The President-cndidte is under focus ll yer long, nd events relted to other cndidtes, positive or negtive, re unble to shift the ttention of the dily: the focus on Lul by OESP is constnt nd inlterble. The dt for our other newsppers show tht ech journlistic compny mkes choices tht revel its editoril orienttion. On the weeks from Mrch 15 to 28 period in which the PSDB, prty of former president Fernndo Henrique Crdoso, finlly defined tht Alckmin would be the prty s cndidte, nd not José Serr, then myor of São Pulo the visibility of the governor of São Pulo surpsses Lul president on Folh de São Pulo. In O Globo, Alckmin is even with Lul, nd only on OESP the president keeps bsolute ledership in numbers of cittions. This newspper records 206 entries for the PT cndidte, nd 141 for the PSDB cndidte Visibility on O Estdo de São Pulo /02 14/02 15/02 28/02 01/03 14/03 15/03 28/03 29/03 11/04 12/04 25/04 26/04 09/05 10/05 23/05 24/06 06/06 07/06 20/06 21/06 04/07 05/07 18/07 19/07 01/08 02/08 15/08 16/08 29/08 30/08 12/09 13/09 01/10 02/10 16/10 17/10 29/10 Number of cittions Lul (cndidto) Alckmin Rui Piment Eymel Lucino Bivr Heloís Helen Lul (presidente) Grotinho Serr Anlyzing seprtely, once more, opinion nd informtion entries, the tendency of OESP to concentrte coverge on Lul is even more evident. Adding entries s president nd s cndidte, Lul reches 73% of the opinion spce, nd 71% of the informtive pieces.

15 Observing ggregted dt, we notice tht the visibility given by OESP to Lul is different in the opinion nd informtion sections. While in the informtive prt news bout the president re dominnt (43%, ginst 30% for the cndidte), in the opinion sections Lul president hs 27%, ginst 44% of Lul cndidte. Our methodology offers elements to ssert tht lso O Globo hd posture tht ws especilly lert towrds Lul, with high visibility, nd strongly criticl s well displying, together with OESP, more positioned nd editorilized posture. The emphsis of informtive entries on the government llows for more criticl tone, since it is possible, from the vst gend of issues generted by the ntionl Stte, to select nd stress the ccustions nd government inefficiency in vrious occsions during the reserch period. On the other side, Lul s cndidte produces less negtive informtion, since he keeps lwys on top of opinion polls, incresing his rnge of forml nd informl supporters nd mnging without significnt problems his cmpign. Turned into his number one priority, the cmpign ws thus more ble to control its own gend. On the opinion prt, the pictures is reversed: Lul cndidte is the min focus of ttention, with lmost hlf the ppritions, llowing n even more clerly negtive positioning from those newsppers, s becomes evident with the nlysis of evlutions tht follows.

16 Position-tking nd criticism: fr from the mnul In generl lines, dt collected on the evlution of cndidtes by the newsppers llows us to ssert tht the Brzilin editoril climte ws clerly unfvorble to President nd cndidte Lul during the electorl yer of In no moment, since Februry 2 nd to Election Dy the blnce of news for Lul exceeded 11 negtive points 17. Blnce of evlutions (ll ppers) Positive minus negtive entries /02 14/02 15/02 28/02 01/03 14/03 15/03 28/03 29/03 11/04 12/04 25/04 26/04 09/05 10/05 23/05 24/05 06/06 07/06 20/06 21/06 04/07 05/07 18/07 19/07 01/08 02/08 15/08 16/08 29/08 30/08 12/09 13/09 01/10 Lul Cndidto Lul Presidente Alckmin Helois Helen Most of the time (20 weeks out of 34), evlution of Lul president fluctutes round 30%. This figure reflects journlistic coverge tht gve little spce to government gend nd ws criticl of federl policies on mny fronts, giving lrge spce to corruption issues nd episodes. Besides, Lul s use of the Presidency mndte to fulfill cndidte gend ws insistently denounced by newsppers, tht stressed the electorl intention of nnouncements nd speeches performed by the president. Politicl positioning of the newsppers under study mkes itself cler with the constnt negtive evlution of 17 The blnce of ggregted evlutions considers the sum of positive (+1), negtive (-1) nd neutrl (0) of ll newsppers nlysed, permitting to prehend the generl editoril climte. The suggestion of this use for evlution dt is of Borb, This totls nd the resulting grph incluide fourth newspper, Jornl do Brsil, trditionl Brzilin newspper we lso nlyzed, but hve been losing reders nd politicl influence, nd ws therefore not detiled in the present pper.

17 federl government s public spending, its externl politics, socil progrms nd other lines of ction. In regrd to Lul cndidte, there is significnt chnge from the moment his cndidture is mde officil by the Workers Prty it mrks negtive inflection tht will remin until the end of the first round, nd tht becomes even more negtive s election dy pproches nd with the Dossier scndl 18. This criticl, editoril nd positioned perspective of minstrem Brzilin press in the coverge of the Presidentil election is even more evident s we isolte for seprte nlysis informtion from opinion pieces. O Globo nd OESP re more editoril nd positioned, with lesser percentge of neutrl entries. The proportion of neutrl (or equilibrted) entries keeps below 50% ll over the period, indicting more position tking (more ttention to negtive nd positive stories) thn on For Lul cndidte, in the opinion prt, the proportion of neutrl on OESP nd O Globo is only 38% nd 24%, respectively. O Globo shows frnkly nti-lul ttitude, with most stories with negtive evlution. Towrds the cndidte, there re 53% negtive stories, ginst 9% tht show positive opinion. When Lul ppers s President, the pper still shows negtive tendency, with 47% negtive opinion pieces, nd only 8% positive, the lowest score of ll. The nlysis of dt from OESP lso shows explicit nti-lulism. Among opinion pieces, s president, 49% re negtive, nd 10% positive. Lul-cndidte receives 60% negtive entries in the form of editorils, essys nd humoristic drwings, nd 16% positive. But it is in the nlysis of the informtive prt, which is llegedly, in the discourse of journlists nd medi owners s well, the spce for objective nd imprtil nrrtions of 18 Eighteen dys before election, two PT members were rrested when buying dossier bout the cndidte to governor of São Pulo, José Serr, of PSDB, prty of Lul s min dversry on the ntionl front, Gerldo Alckmin. The dossier contined minly exposure ginst Serr, nd lso some bout Alckmin. News coverge on ll minstrem medi, from then on, ws focused on investigting the origin of the money used by the men to buy the documents, ignoring completely the negtive content regrding PSDB cndidtes. Besides chosing specific constnt frme to tret the episode, grnde mídi, inclusive, viol segredo de justiç o publicr s fotos do dinheiro preendido pel Polici Federl. O vzmento do mteril foi relizdo por um delegdo d própri PF que, com intenção mnifest de interferir n conjuntur eleitorl, procur determindos veículos de comunicção, recomend divulgção e instruiu os repórteres publicr versão que seri dd por ele mesmo de que o cd com s fotos teri sido roubdo de su mes. Esse episódio, com sus implicções polítics e prticipção comprometid d grnde imprens brsileir, dri um pper.

18 relity, tht the nti-lul tendency is prticulrly striking. On O Globo, Lul cndidte hs 40% negtive nd 19% positive stories. Lul president, like, hs 43% ginst 11% positive. Informtive pieces found on the pges of O Estdo de São Pulo shres the sme chrcteristics of strong criticism towrds the President nd PT cndidte. As president, Lul hs lmost hlf of the entries where his nme ppers, 47%, with negtive evlution, nd only 12% positive ones. This dverse tendency is less intense with regrd to Lul cndidte, who receives 43% negtive news ginst 24%. Even so, these dt confirm the strong nti-lul perspective of minstrem Brzilin press. To correctly understnd such unilterlity, it is importnt to consider tht Lul nd his cmpign produced quntity of objectively good news during the electorl yer: the cndidte kept lwys on top of opinion polls, nd lmost won lredy on the first round such fcts, by themselves, could grnt Lul considerble positive coverge; s President, on the other hnd, he showed positive figures nd chievements in mny fronts (ll well publicized through government, prty nd electorl propgnd) nd finished his mndte well evluted, in spite of corruption chrges. Through the ppliction of our methodology we were ble to point out the strong prtidrism of electorl coverge by two of the min newspper in Brzil. This tendency combined gret ttention to Lul, the cndidte-president, to negtive perspective. In their opinion prt, O Globo nd OESP chose not to giver room for opinions in fvor of Lul. On the informtive side, both dilies were positioned nd gve gret slience to negtive news bout Lul. There is clerly brrier to the penetrtion of this government s positive gend on the ppers. Especilly on the fmily dilies of the Mesquit (OESP) nd the Mrinho (O Globo), the successes of the Lul Presidency, minly economic, re ttributed to previous governors nd to the interntionl context, tht ws fvorble on tht moment.

19 TABLE 1. Evlution by cndidte Opinion Lul President Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 12% 49% 39% 1054 O GLOBO 8% 47% 45% 983 OESP 10% 49% 42% 692 Lul Cndidte Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 23% 30% 47% 1247 O GLOBO 9% 53% 38% 1054 OESP 16% 60% 24% 716 Gerldo Alckmin Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 17% 35% 48% 1091 O GLOBO 32% 22% 46% 840 OESP 48% 24% 28% 479 Heloís Helen Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 30% 32% 38% 202 O GLOBO 30% 15% 54% 289 OESP 45% 16% 39% 171 TABLE 2. Evlution by cndidte Informtion Lul President Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 25% 35% 40% 1817 O GLOBO 11% 43% 46% 2320 OESP 12% 47% 41% 2701 Lul Cndidte Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 33% 30% 37% 1526 O GLOBO 19% 40% 41% 1410 OESP 24% 43% 32% 1395 Gerldo Alckmin Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 35% 25% 40% 1605 O GLOBO 25% 32% 44% 1388 OESP 38% 26% 36% 1371 Heloís Helen Positive Negtive Neutrl Totl FOLHA 37% 18% 46% 450 O GLOBO 32% 17% 51% 402 OESP 36% 16% 48% 257 Folh de São Pulo, on its turn, shows n editoril line more open nd plurl. In this sense, we cn consider it more engged in publishing the diversity of the socil nd politicl world, nd more effectively committed to the typicl journlistic professionl

20 code, which in Brzil hs been for the lst decdes the bnner if democrcy nd plurlism, submitted to objectivity nd imprtility (see Aldé nd others, 2005). Folh de São Pulo is lso more sensitive to the electorl relity, in which Lul leds survey results from the very beginning of the rce. The pper still shows some 30% negtive entries for Lul-cndidte, but this figure is blnced by 33% positive entries, cknowledging tht his cmpign hd positive gend, ignored by the other newsppers. News with Lul-president were lso more equilibrted: 35% negtive ginst 25% positive. In the opinion prt, Lul-cndidte receives 23% positive, 30% negtive nd 47% neutrl the biggest neutrl proportion for ll ppers studied. This figure, in ddition to the reltive blnce pointed bove between positive nd negtive, confirms Folh s more plurlistic posture. However, the opinion pieces bout Lul-president follow the tendencies of the other ppers. 49% re negtive entries, while only 12% re positive ones. When the pper follows led initited by the government, it is usully with negtive or neutrl evlution, disqulifying them mny times, building this negtive evlution on the criticism of specilists selected by Folh s rguments of uthority. The criticl perspective lso ppers through the deliberte use of djectives, s the subtitle for first pge picture of the President, on Februry 4 th : President prises bio-diesel in bosting discourse. This mens tht the more plurlistic nd equilibrted fce of Folh s coverge disppers in the evlution of the president s the ntion s chief, nd of his progrmmtic gend. In this cse, Folh lso opened up few spces for debte, shring the nti-lul in its editorilized sections. The possibility of seprting the ppernces of Lul s cndidte nd s chief of the Stte llows us to ssert tht minstrem Brzilin medi, structured in fmilir enterprises, is criticl towrds Lul s government. Other cndidtes on ntionl press Tken jointly, the nlysed newsppers show more positive blnce for PSDB s Gerldo Alckmin. His worst moment, with -18,5 blnce, ws during the security crisis in

21 São Pulo, which involved the terrorist ttcks by PCC 19. Although Alckmin hd been governor of the stte of São Pulo since 2001 nd responsible for security mtters until 2006, the criticl tone of newsppers bout the episode is surpssed by the lrge positive coverge the cndidte receives ll yer long, ending up with more positive thn negtive entries, considering the ggregted dt. The Public Security crisis in São Pulo revels shrply the disprity in the coverge of the cndidtes. The pek of the crisis hppens between my 10 th nd 23 rd, nd corresponds to the most negtive moment of the coverge on Gerldo Alckmin lwys better thn -20%, considering the blnce of ll newsppers. Besides this criticism towrds the ex-governor of São Pulo, it is interesting to notice the priming, identifible especilly on OESP, to frme the PCC ttcks. The pper reltes Lul to the episode nd to violence in generl, criticizing in incisive mnner the electorl exploittion of the cse by the PT leder. Such priming is noticeble in the qulittive nlysis of the entries under the issue Criminl ttcks in São Pulo. The summries of some opinion pieces show the frme of the newspper for the episode. Nobody expected to see the scenes in SP. The greter guilt is the of federl dministrtion, the present nd pst ones. The stte, fter the Crndiru trum 20, is frid to hurt the prisoners. The city, cn do little. This wy, neither Alckmin nor Lul will be ble to count on SP to elect themselves. Section note on My, 16 th. The politicin who best incrntes the misery of politics lredy mentioned in this section is Lul. He profited from the most drmtic week for Brzilin society (s fr s memory cn rech) to intensify his non declred reelection cmpign. Lul tried to tke dvntge of Lembo s complints towrds PSDB nd PFL members. The president hs been riding the country, spending the txpyers money to mke cmpign, in the effort to show off for the electorte. Recently, s one more insult by the misery of politics from Brsíli, Thomz Bstos received Dniel Dnts off hours, t the bnker s lwyer home 21. Editoril on My, 23 rd. 19 Around mid My, criminl fction nmed Primeiro Comndo d Cpitl (Cpitl First Commnd, or PCC), froze the country s lrgest city with coordinted terrorist ttcks, iming especilly t Police trgets nd pnicking the popultion. 20 A trgic event when, in 1992, 111 prisoners of the Crndiru prison complex, in São Pulo, were slughtered by police forces. 21 Cláudio Lembo ws myor of São Pulo t tht momento. Tomz Bstos ws Minister of Justice. Dniel Dnts is bnker t the time under investigtion, nd Bstos hd been his lwyer.

22 We must lso observe tht n importnt proportion of negtive news bout Alckmin from the newsppers under study is due to their effort to nlyze the cndidte s strtegy, criticizing the choice of his nme by the prty, his cmpign nd his ttitude lmost enticing, s if indicting the correct course for the presidentil cndidture of PSDB. This is the cse for severl politicl columnists nlyzed, especilly on OESP nd O Globo. Through our dtbse, we were ble to detect such tendency nlyzing qulittively the opinion prt with negtive evlution towrds Alckmin observing the summries, issues nd frmes of entries. In regrd of other cndidtes, ntionl press ws curiously benevolent towrds Helois Helen, n extreme left cndidte tht hd been usully derided by minstrem medi. Of the 17 periods studied before election s first round, she only hd negtive blnce in two, ginst 5 negtive periods for Alckmin, 7 for Lul cndidte nd 17 of Lul president 22. Obviously enough, we must consider tht for cndidte with less ppritions thn the two min ones, s is the cse of Helen, it is esier to hve positive blnce of evlutions. However, this evidence does not diminish the fct tht minstrem medi, trditionlly contrry to rdicl left orgniztions, criticl of Lul nd of his prty, PT, nd fvorble towrds Alckmin, hs treted the socilist cndidte in essentilly positive fshion. In the informtive prt of ll three ppers, the cndidte hs positive figures greter thn the negtive ones: 37% ginst 18% in Folh de São Pulo, 32% ginst 17% in O Globo nd 36% ginst 16% in OESP. In the opinion prt, the discrepncy is even more striking: OESP displys 45% positive, ginst 16% negtive entries, nd O Globo shows 30% positive, ginst 15% negtive ones. Folh de São Pulo, more equilibrted, mrks 30% positive nd 32% negtive entries for Helois Helen. Prt of the explntion for this positive coverge lies on Helen s electorl success: s she mounted in voter preference, our methodology ttributes positive evlution to entries informing electorl polls nd tendencies tht displyed her performnce. However, 22 Results (vlid votes) on first round were: Lul (PT) 48,6%, Alckmin (PSDB) 41,6%, Helois Helen (PSOL) 6,8%, Cristóvm Burque (PDT) 2,6%. Second round brought the reelection of Lul with 60,83% of vlid votes, followed by Gerldo Alckmin with 39,17% of v.v.

23 qulittive observtion the journlistic pieces which mentioned Helois Helen, other explntions lso pper. Anlyzing the issues mrked in ssocition to entries which brought Helen s nme, we verify the predominnce of metcmpign 23. The mjority of news in which Helois Helen ppers is relted not to the government progrm, politicl pltform or policy mtters of the socilist cndidte. Little room, in fct, is given to politiclly substntive issues. Insted, newsppers opened their pges so tht the cndidte could comment the election developments, especilly corruption ccustions ginst Lul nd her former prty, PT. Tht s why the issues relted to her entries re metcmpign themes, such s supports, ttcks, cmpign, llinces, cndidture nd election, or scndl issues such s corruption, corruption of PT, CPI 24, crisis, dossier, Lul, Menslão 25 nd snguessugs 26. The dt collected, thus, llowed us to verify how journlistic enterprises mke politiclly relevnt choice when covering elections. Helois Helen, likewise the other cndidtes, mde dily cmpign cts, producing events nd politicl-electorl discourses. From this offer, newspper chose to publish ccording to definite politicl frmework. In the cse of the socilist cndidte, they chose to prcticlly ignore themtic issues, emphsizing, insted, her ttcks towrds the fvorite cndidte. Regulrities of press behvior during electorl times Compring our results for the two elections presented here to other elections nlyzed through the sme methodology, we cn confirm some common tendencies tht mrk the behvior of Brzilin press during electorl times. As we sw in both elections, politicl-electorl news of the three newsppers studied lwys give gret visibility to cndidtes well positioned in the opinion polls. This trend is ccentuted by nother 23 Ctegory involving issues bout the cmpign itself, its strtegies e tendencies. 24 Comissão Prlmentr de Inquérito: Prlimentry Investigtion Commission, estblished by the Congress to pursue ccustions regrding deputies nd other politicl uthorities. 25 Allownce : Lbel used by the press to nme n ccustion of corruption in which Lul s government would py monthly sums to grnt the vote of Congressmen. 26 Leeches : Lbel used by the press to nme n ccustion of corruption in Lul s Ministry of Helth.

24 common tendency, which is to give visibility to the sitution cndidte 27. In this sense, newsppers follow conservtive bis, giving room for the fvorites nd little opportunity for minor or new cndidtes. Confirming the first tendency, Gerldo Alckmin, which ws the second plced in the results, is lso the second with greter visibility in ll ppers fter his nme ws mde officil by his prty. His first pek of cittions on ll newsppers occurs precisely between My 15 th nd 28 th, when his nme is finlly decide by PSDB until then, he divided ttentions with the other pre-cndidte, José Serr; together, ttention to the PSDB electorl definition ws s gret s Lul s. On Folh de São Pulo, Alckmin goes from 96 entries, on the period first two weeks of Mrch, to 197 on the second hlf of the month. On O Estdo de São Pulo, he rises from 64 to 141 entries during the sme periods nd, on O Globo, from 92 to 154. As in other elections nlyzed by Dox s reserchers, Brzilin press lso gve ttention to brupt shifts on public opinion polls. The most interesting cse, in 2006, is of Helois Helen in the biweekly period tht goes from July 19 th to August 1 st. Compred to the previous period, the cndidte of PSOL hs visibility jump in ll ppers, fct tht cn be ttributed to the increse of her vote intentions on July. She rose from 23 to 106 entries in Folh, 37 to 130 on O Globo surpssing even Lul-president during this period nd from 37 to 81 entries on OESP. Conclusions The min conclusions we drw from this continued monitoring of Brzilin press confirm some ptterns lredy observed in other contexts, nd set some expecttions bout its behvior. Although the ppers follow some predictble lines, they lso hve cler politicl preference tht mould their journlistic coverge. For exmple, it is notble tht mndte holders receive extr coverge but it is not necessrily positive. We re ble to ssert tht the journlism prcticed in Brzil, lthough it professes n ethics of objectivity nd imprtility, hs politicl preferences tht shpe electorl 27 In the 2000 nd 2004 elections, the sme tendency ws noted in the municipl elections studied by Dox. Although we do not hve our won numbers for the 1998 reelection of FHC, the most comprble context, similr reserch done by Dtfolh Institute shows similr trend for Folh de São Pulo.

25 coverge. There is nothing essentilly wrong with politiclly mrked editoril lines nd with newsppers choosing who they consider the best cndidte running for government. Americn newsppers, for exmple, hve trdition of publicizing their electorl preferences. Position-tking towrds issues nd public policies contributes to feed the informtion vilble for the citizens to build their opinions nd tke decisions. Nevertheless, it is democrtic tht the offer of informtion nd opinions for the public is plurl one. This plurlism my be internl when ech medium intends to bring itself ll politicl versions nd interprettions possible or externl, when vrious journlistic compnies shre the public ccording to their politicl opinions, offering explicitly different editoril lines. Historiclly, communictions systems hve vried from country to country nd from time do time, on wht regrds politicl positioning s journlistic vlue. The problem is tht minstrem medi in contemporry Brzil dopt hybrid between those two models of plurlism. Formlly, newsmedi build their mrketing nd ethicl discourse on the imprtility prdigm, qulifying themselves before their reders nd striving to ssocite their prctices to the concepts nd rituls of objectivity. This cn be verified in the slogns, officil guidelines, editoril mnuls, journlism undergrdute courses. However, in the production of dily news, wht we see re differences in the tretment given to cndidtes, mplifying certin issues nd events negtively ssocited to cndidtes, contrsting with the benevolence in the tretment of issues tht could be negtive for preferred ctors. After the 2006 elections, there ws some commotion bout these ttitudes, especilly in the smll medi criticism surroundings, on websites like Obsertvório d Imprens nd others. Most of minstrem medi, though, rected violently to the nlysis tht Lul nd PT hd won the elections ginst the medi. Even our reserch ws disqulified s not scientific, nd out methodology s not proper to nlyze journlism. As mtter of fct, there is still long wy to trvel until the exercise of plurlism is ctully ccepted by Brzilin trditionl newsppers, contributing more effectively for democrtic public sphere.