Un análisis crítico del discurso en los titulares de noticias sobre el caso de corrupción de Lula en los principales periódicos de Brasil

Abstract

This study examines how the corruption case involving Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is portrayed in Brazil’s major newspapers. In line with Héctor Borrat’s (1989; 2006) theoretical perspective on the influence of newspapers on political systems, and using Fairclough’s (1995a) critical discourse analysis model and a series of analytical tools from Richardson (2007), the study examines news articles and headlines on the subject published by two major Brazilian national newspapers, O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo, to determine each newspaper’s level of involvement in the political conflict and how language is used to reflect specific ideologies. This step-by-step case analysis provides a critical review of fundamental journalistic strategies. This research analyzes news articles from the aforementioned newspapers over a 29-month period, from the onset of the charges against Lula (November 2015) to the former Brazilian president’s final arrest (April 2018), from an interdisciplinary perspective on media and politics. The study’s findings indicate that both newspapers—though to a lesser extent in Folha de S. Paulo—tend to present a negative image of the former Brazilian president when covering his conviction case and commenting on the conflict. The results provide evidence to support the idea that newspapers, considered validators of information, do not simply reflect social reality as it is, but rather attempt to impose their ideologies in the representation of events.