A critical discourse analysis of news headlines on Lula’s corruption case in leading newspapers in Brazil
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Abstract
This study investigates the way Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s corruption case is represented in the leading newspapers in Brazil. In line with theoretical perspective of Hector Borrat (1989; 2006) regarding the influence of newspapers in political systems, and by employing Fairclough’s (1995a) critical discourse analysis model and a number of analytical tools from Richardson (2007), the study examines the news headlines on the issue, published by two major Brazilian newspapers of national circulation, O Globo and Folha de S.Paulo, in order to determine the level of participation of each newspaper in the political conflict and how language is used to reflect specific ideologies. This step-by-step analysis of the case provides a critical review of the fundamental journalistic strategies. This research analyses the journalistic pieces of aforementioned newspapers over 29 months, from the beginning of the accusations against Lula (November 2015) until the definitive arrest of the Brazilian ex-president (April 2018), in interdisciplinary perspective of media and politics. The findings of the study indicate that both newspapers, with less proportion in Folha de S.Paulo, tend to present a negative image of the Brazilian ex-president when covering his conviction case by commenting on the conflict. The results provide evidence to support the idea that newspapers, considered as validators of information, do not simply reflect the social reality as it is, and yet they try to impose their ideologies in representing events.
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