Abstract
When Brazil’s then-president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was implicated in a bribery scandal in 2005, Senator Antônio Carlos Magalhães from the state of Bahia emerged as one of the president’s most vocal critics. This study relied on a content analysis of scandal coverage in two competing Bahia newspapers: A Tarde, which had no overt political ties, and Correio da Bahia, which Sen. Magalhães owned. Results showed that Magalhães’s newspaper, Correio da Bahia, excluded citizens’ voices and covered Sen. Magalhães more extensively and favorably than did the competing newspaper, A Tarde. Thus, Correio da Bahia succumbed to owner influence, potentially threatening democracy by allowing Magalhães to set the newspaper’s agenda.
Journalists in Brazil, a country that has experienced just 37 years of democratic rule from 1900 to 2000, found themselves with an opportunity to test the limits of their freedom and independence as a political crisis erupted in May 2005. What started as a seemingly routine example of yet another case of government corruption snowballed into an all-out bribery investigation in what came to be known as the mensalão scandal. After being caught on tape accepting a bribe, a government Post Office employee claimed he was acting at the behest of the leader of the Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro (PTB), or Brazilian Labor Party – an ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s minority Partido de Trabalhadores (PT), or Workers’ Party. Lula’s opposition called for a Congressional inquiry, which found the PT had been making monthly payments – thus the term mensalão – to opposition party members in exchange for their votes, giving the minority PT the votes it needed to push Lula’s agenda through Congress.
Throughout the summer, the mensalão scandal dominated Brazilian news media, even becoming fodder for jokes on talk shows and in comedy sketches on prime time variety shows. Political parties ran television adverts denouncing corruption, and President Lula held press conferences and ran adverts disassociating him from the scandal. At the time, one of the most vocal critics of Lula and the leftist PT was Antônio Carlos Magalhães, a long-time rightist senator and political boss from the northeastern state of Bahia. Magalhães, better known by his initials ACM, infamously boasted that beyond owning the newspaper Correio da Bahia and the local TV Globo affiliate, he also controlled most of the state’s mayors and Congress members.
This is the context in which this study analyzed journalism in northeast Brazil, considering how ownership control affects newspaper content, which in turn impacts on the potential for consolidation of democracy in this former military state. Through a content analysis examining how two Bahia newspapers covered powerful political actors and the bribery scandal, which sources they used, and whether they published stories aimed at strengthening civil society, this study uses a theoretical lens of normative democracy, effects of media ownership control, and clientelism – wherein a patron bestows favors or other resources on a ‘client’ in exchange for support – to show how ACM’s ownership shaped what news was printed in Correio da Bahia. Content in the newspaper A Tarde was analyzed to provide a contrast, as A Tarde is not owned by a political powerhouse figure like ACM. Such a systematic examination of the impact of owner influence on Latin America media is rare in journalism literature.
This research is important to examine how a free press signifies more than just the legal freedom to criticize the government. Ideally, newspapers must also have freedom from the biases of owners and advertisers, and the willpower to seek out alternative sources in order to provide a full and fair account of the daily news (Steenveld, 2004). Biases from ownership influence impact on newspaper credibility and relevancye, as credibility depends on objectivity, and a newspaper’s relevance depends on its credibility (Gaziano, 1988). Once readers lose their trust in a newspaper, it becomes irrelevant and citizens are left uninformed, unable to make the political decisions inherent to a functioning democracy (Gaziano, 1988). It is perhaps only with access to complete, diverse, objective and reliable information that citizens can make informed decisions about how to participate in democracy (Steenveld, 2004).
Although examining newspaper content in Salvador, the state of Bahia’s capital, this research is not applicable to Brazil alone. Powerful politicians and corporations influence the media throughout Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin American countries. Media company owners who use their newspapers and television stations to further their own economic and political interests have long been a trademark of journalism throughout Brazil and all of Latin America (Hallin and Papathanassopoulos, 2002; Hughes and Lawson, 2005). Thus, this case serves as a microcosm of what is a widespread phenomenon of powerful political and business actors controlling, whether subtly or overtly, Latin America media.
Background
Bahia, on Brazil’s northeast coast, is known for its African-influenced music, dancing, food, and religion. Of the state’s population of 13 million, an estimated 39 percent live below the poverty line; a number jumps to 47 percent in Bahia’s rural areas, according to the most recent data available (World Bank, 2005). That compares with 22 percent of the entire Brazilian population living in poverty (World Bank, 2008). Once the site of Brazil’s largest slave population, Bahia is racked by racial inequalities and discrimination.
For decades, Bahia’s undisputed coronel, or ruling oligarch, was Antônio Carlos Magalhães, a.k.a. ACM. Until his death in 2007, ACM was Bahia’s all-powerful political boss, long-time senator, and leader of the rightist Liberal Front Party (PFL). He was first elected as a state deputy in 1954. In the 1960s, as the mayor of Salvador, he solidified his reputation or ignoring or, worse, threatening all who opposed him. In 1985, during the country’s return to democracy, the president appointed ACM as Brazil’s Minister of Communications. ACM used this position to favor giant media company TV Globo, and in return he was rewarded with the TV Globo affiliate in Bahia (Gomes, 2001). His political methods have become known as ‘Carlismo’ in Bahia (2001: 58). ACM could very well stand in for one of the stereotypical coronels that acclaimed Brazilian author Jorge Amado writes of in his novels about Bahia. Fitzpatrick (2003) said that despite ACM’s bullying, high-handed, narrow-minded, vindictive and condescending ways, the public still saw him as the ‘king’ of Bahia. His fervent supporters were known as ‘Carlistas’.
ACM’s media fiefdom included Bahia’s second-largest newspaper, Correio da Bahia, which has a circulation of about 65,000, six television stations (including Salvador’s Globo television affiliate), and various radio stations (De Almeida, 2000). Although ACM, the patriarch of the Magalhães family, died in July 2007, his family still owns Correio da Bahia and remains politically active.
Correio da Bahia’s main competition is A Tarde, the region’s largest newspaper with a circulation of more than 100,000. According to A Tarde’s website, the newspaper was founded in 1912 by Ernesto Simões da Silva Freitas Filho with the mission to act as Bahia’s spokesperson, attempting to defend society and democracy. In 1968, the owners deliberately stopped printing editorials, choosing to print nothing rather than be subject to the military regime’s censorship. By 1996, A Tarde was one of Brazil’s 10 largest newspapers. ACM has sued – always unsuccessfully – A Tarde and its leading columnist, Samuel Celestino, on numerous occasions. In 1999, ACM instigated a government-advertising boycott against A Tarde, directing all state advertising to Correio da Bahia.
During the 1980s, most Latin American countries began the slow transition from authoritarianism and military dictatorships to democracy and economic liberalization. In recent years, Latin Americanists have shifted from studying the region’s transition to democracy, to researching countries’ consolidation of democracy.
A consolidated democracy can be measured in terms of longevity; consecutive elections and successful power turnovers; the public’s acceptance of democratic ideals and rule of law; and respect for citizens’ rights – including freedom of expression (Smith, 2005). Scholars contend that beyond fair elections, and accountability of elected officials, a true democracy also requires freedom of expression and the availability of alternative information (Gans, 2003; Smith, 2005). Journalists’ and citizens’ roles in a democracy are intertwined, as, according to Gans’ (2003) normative theory of democracy, (a) journalists first must inform citizens; (b) second, citizens must pay attention to the news if they want to be informed; (c) third, informed citizens are more likely to participate politically; and (d) fourth, the more informed citizens participate, the more democratic a country is. Although Gans was theorizing specifically about the United States, his notion of information as a prerequisite for citizen participation is applicable to any democracy, including Brazil.
While a ‘functionalist’ press can bolster democracy by promoting civic and political education, participation and socialization, a ‘regulatory’ press’s independence and potential for social change is limited, as the media are influenced by ‘dominant power relations and institutions with the goal of maintaining existing power structures through the control of knowledge and information’ (Nisbet, 2008: 456). Similarly, under Steenveld’s (2004) ‘radical’ view of the press, the media are a tool for the powerful and elite – such as ACM – to maintain control.
Owner control
Traditionally, Latin American journalism has been characterized by such ‘regulatory’ or ‘radical’ media, and democracy has not changed the symbiotic relationships between media owners and the government (Porto, 2007). Even as reporters attempt to take on a watchdog responsibility, they are often stymied by media owners’ political and economic interests (Pinto, 2008). The onset of democracy has not meant that journalists are no longer pressured or intimidated by political officials (Hughes and Lawson, 2005; Rockwell and Janus, 2003). In fact, Lawson (2002: 10) posited that the spread of democracy might just have produced ‘a media establishment that is relatively independent of government control but beholden to the interests of private actors’. This ‘instrumentalization’ is evident in Brazil’s regional newspapers and television stations, which are ‘owned by the local oligarchs who use them to solidify their political control’ (Hallin and Papathanassopoulos, 2002: 179).
Such oligarchy-owned media are one of the main obstacles to an independent press in Latin America (Hallin and Papathanassopoulos, 2002; Hughes and Lawson, 2005; Rockwell and Janus, 2003). This hurdle of oligarchic media ownership clearly pertains to Bahia, where both of the leading newspaper companies are owned by families, one of which – the Magalhães family – is synonymous with local power. Whoever owns or finances the press has a direct effect on the content of a newspaper, and when the news media are owned and financed by ‘interest’ sources – such as a powerful political family – rather than commercial sources, content tends to be less objective, diverse, hard-hitting or newsworthy (Altschull and Herbert, 1984; Hughes and Lawson, 2005; Shoemaker and Reese, 1991).
Meyer referred to such controlling publishers as ‘malignant’, as they request special treatment or coverage of organizations, businesses or politicians, often because the publisher is economically beholden to these groups, or is hoping to garner some favor. In such clientelistic relationships – known as coronelismo in Brazil – ‘access to social resources is controlled by patrons and delivered to clients in exchange for deference and various kinds of support’ (Hallin and Papathanassopoulos, 2002: 184). In other words, journalists are subject to the oligarchs who, either directly as owners or indirectly via governmental or business incentives or punishments, control the media. The long-term consequence of such elite- or government-controlled news is a restricted view of society presented to the public (Bennett, 2005).
Participation, civil society, and framing
Scholars contend that the press has a responsibility to provide for public discourse, making citizens aware of their various political, civil, and social rights and allowing readers to see their worlds reflected on the newspaper pages so they will feel as if they have a stake in society (Steenveld, 2004; Waisbord, 1996). By covering all aspects of civil society, the media help to build citizen identity, a precursor to political participation and a prerequisite for a consolidated democracy. Of course, information alone is not enough to make citizens participate, especially if that information comes from public officials, is about officials, and opens no space for civil society (Gans, 2003).
One way of considering whether a newspaper is covering civil society and social rights is to look at the way articles are framed. Entman (1993) said media frames construct a message through selection, exclusion, emphasis, and elaboration. Rather than tell readers what to think about, frames tell the audience how to think about something (Reese, 2007). Considering framing of stories is important, as the way issues are framed affects the way in which readers understand it (Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007). In fact, how something is framed has been shown to shape whom the public blames for social, political, and economic problems (Iyengar, 1991). One of the most common news frames is the conflict, or contest, frame typically applied to political stories (Cappella and Jamieson, 1996). Another important news frame is that of human interest, or giving stories a personal angle (Valkenburg et al., 1999). Such human interest-framed stories tend to emphasize the people, rather than the process.
Elites and ‘everyday’ citizens
Pinto (2008) found that because the economic and political situations of Latin America were such that the media have had to ally themselves with the powerful and elite if journalists wanted to maintain their access to information, reporters tend to rely on officials as sources. This dependence on elite, official sources often results in journalists seeking to please those who provide them information (Pinto, 2008), creating a system whereby journalists are rewarded with scoops, or punished with ‘no comments’. Such a clientelistic media system that favors officials’ voices gives the powerful one more way to manage the news (Bennett, 2005). Analyses have shown that government officials are quoted extensively in news stories (Waisbord, 2000), with newspapers giving powerful actors unlimited access that allows them to further their own agendas (Bennett, 2005). Thus, consistently bombarding readers with a particular politician or viewpoint bestows more credibility on that official or perspective.
Further, relying on official sources hinders the press and public’s ability to hold political leaders accountable (Bolling, 1985). To counter official-only stories, Gans (2003) called for ‘multiperspectival’ news that takes a bottom-up approach to reporting, with journalists employing information not only from officials, but also from everyday citizens impacted by the news. Adding diversity and representation would allow people to see themselves and their perspectives in the news, thus strengthening democracy and diminishing the power of the elites who dominate as sources (2003). In contrast, by reproducing official viewpoints, the media are ignoring the voices of the majority of the population (Chomsky, 1989) and failing to hold officials accountable (Smith, 2005). Such a press that ignores the bulk of society impedes citizens’ political participation and thus limits democracy’s potential (De Melo, 2004).
Thus, based on the preceding literature review regarding how the powerful and elite control media content via ownership, clientelistic relationships, framing of stories, and reliance on official sources, this study proposed the following five hypotheses:
H1: Correio da Bahia will cover ACM more extensively than will A Tarde.
H2: Correio da Bahia’s coverage of President Lula – ACM’s political enemy – will be more negative than coverage in A Tarde.
H3: Extensive coverage of the mensalão scandal and Independence Day celebrations in Correio da Bahia will be done in such a way as to venerate ACM and discredit President Lula.
H4: A Tarde will be more likely than Correio da Bahia to use human-interest frames.
H5: Coverage in Correio da Bahia will rely on official government sources more than will stories in A Tarde.
Methodology
This study used a quantitative content analysis of articles, photos and headlines from June to August of 2005 in the daily newspapers A Tarde and Correio da Bahia. Both newspapers are located in Salvador, the state capital for Bahia, Brazil. They were selected for analysis because they are the two largest newspapers in the northeast region of Brazil. For the period of June to August, main-section news articles from two constructed weeks were analyzed. The same constructed weeks were used to study both newspapers.
For this study, news content was analyzed for (a) coverage of ACM, (b) coverage of President Lula, (c) mensalão coverage, (d) framing of stories, and (e) sources.
To analyze extent of ACM coverage, per H1, all photos and mentions of the senator were counted.
When analyzing tone of coverage of Lula, for H2, headlines that mentioned ‘Lula’ or ‘the president’ were coded as negative, neutral or positive. This determination was accomplished by asking a series of yes or no questions. Questions that if answered affirmatively indicated a positive headline included: Was Lula portrayed as law-abiding? Was Lula portrayed as successful? Was Lula portrayed as helpful? Was Lula portrayed as popular? Was Lula portrayed as patriotic? Questions that if answered affirmatively indicated a negative headline included: Was Lula portrayed as a criminal? Was Lula portrayed as a failure? Was Lula portrayed as harmful? Was Lula portrayed as unpopular? Was Lula portrayed as unpatriotic? If the answers to any of these questions were negative, the headline was coded as neutral.
To determine the importance placed on the mensalão scandal, per H3, the banner front page headlines of each edition, 28 in total, were coded into several categories: mensalão news, non-scandal political news, non-political news, economic news, police news, or environment or agriculture news. Also, a purposive sample of 47 stories mentioning Bahia’s Independence Day festivities was analyzed qualitatively to contrast how ACM and Lula were portrayed.
Per H4, whether the newspapers were publishing articles conducive to promotion of civil society and consolidation of democracy, all non-international news articles in the main section of all 28 editions were assigned to a category: politics, non-political news, police/emergency services, business/economy, sports, or human interest/civic. Articles that were coded as human interest/civic frames were those that received affirmative answers to the following questions: Does the story focus on societal concerns? Does the story provide a ‘human face’ to the issue? Does the story emphasize how individuals or groups are impacted by the issue? Does the story help the community act on, and not just learn about, a problem? Does the story focus on common people as actors and sources?
To consider what types of people the newspapers were quoting, per H5, this study analyzed the number of sources quoted directly in non-police news articles that were teased on the front page. Unlike newspapers in the United States, the front pages of Salvador’s newspapers printed only headlines and teases to stories located on inside pages – no actual articles were printed on the front page. Sources were coded as official/governmental or non-official/governmental. The non-governmental sources then were coded as being elite/persons in authority, or ordinary/non-elites.
In total, the author coded more than 400 articles and headlines in 28 newspaper editions. A second party coded a subsample of 14 percent of articles in order to determine inter-coder reliability. Using Holsti’s formula, the ratio of coding decisions agreed upon to total number of decisions made, the mean inter-coder reliability rate was 93 percent. The inter-coder reliability for each of the variables ranged from 86 percent to 99 percent, above the minimum accepted standard of 80 percent.
Results
Results supported H1, as the extent of coverage of ACM in Correio da Bahia significantly exceeded ACM coverage in A Tarde. Of the 272 news articles analyzed in Correio da Bahia, 13 percent contained mentions of ACM, while only 5 percent of the 275 articles in A Tarde referenced the senator (Table 1). Similarly, 6 percent of headlines in Correio da Bahia referred to ACM or the senator, but no headlines in A Tarde mentioned him.
Comparison of mentions of ACM in stories and in headlines
Notes: aYates’ X2; = 9.21, df = 1, Cramer’s V = 0.14, p < 0.01; bYates’ X2; = 15.72, df = 1, Cramer’s V = 0.18, p < 0.001
ACM’s influence also can be seen in the number of photos in which he appeared. Showing up in 25 photos in Correio da Bahia, ACM was three times more visible than President Lula, who appeared in eight photos. In A Tarde, ACM was pictured just once.
Results also supported H2, as coverage of President Lula, one of ACM’s political opponents, was portrayed more negatively in Correio da Bahia than in A Tarde. Thirty-one headlines in Correio da Bahia and 19 in A Tarde mentioned ‘Lula’ or ‘the president’ and were analyzed to determine whether they were positive, negative, or neutral. In Correio da Bahia, 42 percent of headlines referring to Lula were coded as negative, in contrast with 26 percent in A Tarde (Table 2). For example, a 17 June headline in Correio da Bahia reads, ‘President was Conniving’. Another example of a negative headline is ‘Lula Dances Forró and Prepares Reforms’, published on 2 July. The pairing in the headline of ‘forró’, a dance of the northeast common throughout the month of June with the word ‘reforma’, places a layer of frivolity onto Lula’s reform plans, thus giving the headline a negative tone.
Comparison of tone of headlines referencing President Lula
Notes: Yates’ X2 = 5.119, Cramer’s V = 0.38, df = 2, p < 0.05
Mensalão and Independence Day coverage
This study found only partial support for H3, as the difference between the two newspapers in terms of the number of mensalão scandal headlines was not significant (p = 0.115). However, H3 was partially supported as a qualitative analysis of Independence Day coverage found Correio da Bahia praised ACM and condemned President Lula.
For example, the 2 July edition of Correio da Bahia published a story, ‘Senator Participates in Festivities’, detailing ACM’s involvement in the Independence Day parade. The article went on to say that every year ACM is ‘lovingly received’ and ‘exalted by the crowds’, and that Lula’s PT party was ‘scared of being a target of the crowd’s protests’. A caption of an ACM photo read ‘ACM is received with affection by the Baiano crowd that supports him in the fight against corruption in the PT government’.
The Independence Day coverage in A Tarde, in contrast, was much more even-handed. On 2 July the newspaper ran a parade story under the headline ‘Mensalão Debate Takes to the Streets of Salvador’. This article, unlike those in Correio da Bahia, acknowledged both sides of the scandal by calling attention to the expected attendance of 2000 pro-Lula marchers, while at the same time pointing out that the opposition – including ACM – would be out in force. Also, A Tarde’s coverage did not focus on the anti-Lula demonstrators, but rather specified all the groups protesting during the parade, such as a group wanting to change the name of the airport, a group in favor of gay civil unions, and a group in opposition to the president of the Bahia Sport Club.
Framing of stories
This analysis found that H4 was supported, as A Tarde published more human interest/civic-framed stories than did Correio da Bahia. However, both newspapers focused more on government-driven stories than anything else. Most articles were categorized as political: 72 percent of stories in Correio da Bahia and 47 percent of stories in A Tarde were coded as political (Table 3). Only 27 percent of stories in the main news section of A Tarde and 1 percent in Correio da Bahia were labeled with human interest/civic frames.
Frames assigned to stories in Brazilian newspapers
Notes: Yates’ X2; = 78.629, df = 2, Cramer’s V = 0.38, p < 0.001
In total, A Tarde dedicated 30 pages of its main section to stories, photos, graphics, and fact boxes meant to engender civil society. For example, on 1 July, A Tarde focused on working children in Bahia. With three articles, three photos, and a fact box, the newspaper did more than just call attention to a state-wide problem: it provided facts in an effort to lessen elites’ fear of street children, it offered photos to put a face on the problem, and it suggested a solution in the form of a phone number to call for help. A Tarde complemented its civil society articles with numerous ‘Fala Povo’, or ‘the Crowd Speaks’, boxes. For example, an article about the need for organ donors featured a ‘Fala Povo’ box with photos of three men and three women, ages 20 to 49, and included what they had to say about organ donation.
While A Tarde printed articles with a civic frame in the main section of the newspaper, Correio da Bahia printed only two such stories in its front section. The first ran on 17 June, ‘Business has to Pay AIDS Insurance Expenses’. A news story, the article targeted persons with AIDS, a group mostly marginalized or stereotyped by the media. Still, the story did nothing to dispel the perception of these groups as dangerous. The second civil society article, from 2 July, was titled ‘Ministry Preaches Racial Equality as Government Politics’. A short article without the photos and graphics common in A Tarde, the article discussed the government’s role in race relations.
Sources
Results showed support for H5, as Correio da Bahia relied more on official government sources than did A Tarde. In Correio da Bahia, 70 percent of direct quotes from news articles teased on the front page were attributed to official government sources (Table 4). A Tarde relied on official government sources for 49 percent of direct quotes. Still, the non-government official sources quoted in the newspapers did not represent the voice of the common man. Of the non-government sources quoted directly in each newspaper, most were lawyers, economists and business officials – in other words, elites unlikely to provide alternative viewpoints. Thus, when breaking down non-official sources looking at whether they could be considered ‘man-on-the-street’ sources, only 11 percent of quotes in Correio da Bahia (nine of 82) were from people impacted by the news, rather than those in positions of authority making or commenting on the news. In A Tarde, 22 percent of quotes (28 of 129) came from ‘common’ people not quoted on an everyday basis. For example, ‘man-on-the-street’ sources quoted in Correio da Bahia included a housewife, mechanic, student, and two members of the landless people’s movement. Non-elite voices in A Tarde included two chiefs of indigenous groups, a grandmother and a rural worker.
Comparison of types of sources quoted in Brazilian newspapers
Notes: X2; = 8.737, df = 1, p < 0.01
Discussion
When analyzing the content in A Tarde and Correio da Bahia, it becomes obvious that the latter was dedicated more to ACM and his opinions than the objective pursuit of news. Correio da Bahia seemingly allowed its agenda to be set by its owner, as ACM was given more space than the President or any other politician. Likewise, ACM’s anti-Lula perspective colored Correio da Bahia’s coverage of the president. Correio da Bahia criticized ACM’s opponents, furthering the senator’s own political and economic interests and thus operating as a ‘Carlista’ newspaper.
Neither newspaper made a concerted effort to consistently go beyond the government-official driven story. For example, Correio da Bahia did not seek out and use alternative sources. The newspaper opened almost no space for the common, popular voice. Even though A Tarde used a wider variety of sources than did Correio da Bahia, A Tarde also failed to truly provide a voice for the marginalized and disenfranchised.
Of course, such a reliance on official sources is not unique to these newspapers. Journalists from Brazil to the United States tend to favor official voices over those of the ‘everyday’, common person. Press releases and information from government officials typically are readily accessible, and thus have become embedded in journalists’ reporting routines, helping to produce a newspaper everyday on deadline. Routines and formulas mean journalists know who will give them what kinds of quotes to fit into the molds they use to write their stories. Relying on such formulas, rather than seeking out new and alternative sources for quotes and story ideas, in the end can serve to silence democracy’s watchdogs. Both newspapers’ tendency to ignore ‘man-on-the-street’ sources has the potential to translate into the maintenance of the status quo by never allowing for new or alternative perspectives to be disseminated. Whether this reliance on government sources is deliberate so as to reproduce a certain political point of view, or whether journalists make the unconscious choice to quote officials simply because it is easiest, the result is the same: the voice of civil society often is excluded.
Coverage of ACM, President Lula and Bahia’s Independence Day likewise demonstrated Correio da Bahia’s tendency to rely on ACM for the perspectives presented in the news. Even seemingly innocuous stories about an Independence Day parade emphasized Lula’s role in the political scandal in an effort to discredit him. Analysis showed that the newspaper’s agenda was not so much to inform as it was to make ACM look good, and his political opponents, like Lula, look bad. Correio da Bahia saturated its pages with ACM’s name, quotes, opinions, and face. ACM’s message, whether it be that he knew best for Bahia or that Lula was detrimental to Brazil, was given prominence, potentially shaping readers’ opinions.
As Correio da Bahia was busy following ACM’s party line, it seemingly fell short in its responsibility to help strengthen civil society. Correio da Bahia did not go to the same extents of coverage of civil society as did A Tarde, not even publishing such stories in the newspaper’s main section. The newspaper prioritized the political agenda of ACM, as evidenced by the abundance of ACM stories that ran in the main section, taking up space that potentially could have been dedicated to human-interest stories.
While Correio da Bahia was quite obviously ACM’s newspaper, both literally and figuratively, A Tarde’s lack of ACM coverage – especially considering that he lived in Salvador and was Bahia’s long-time senator – begs the question of how unbiased the newspaper truly is. Such a lapse could indicate a subtle form of revenge on the part of A Tarde reporters and editors. After all, ACM initiated an advertising boycott and filed numerous lawsuits against the newspaper. Thus, it would be worth further investigation to analyze whether A Tarde omitted newsworthy stories that originated with ACM.
Conclusions
Given ACM’s far-reaching influence, and the fact that he owned Correio da Bahia, this study has set out to determine whether ACM’s handprint would be clearly visible on newspaper content. In comparison with a newspaper not owned by ACM, Correio da Bahia was partisan, allowing its editorial content to be determined by ACM. Interfering ‘partisan’ publishers or editors are, as Meyer (1983) wrote, malignant – a cancer eating away at the diversity of multi-perspectival news. When owners who are furthering their personal, political or economic agendas become gatekeepers in the newsroom, comprehensive and representative news has the potential to be gutted in favor of articles promulgating owner interests. Such one-sided stories shaped by owners can prevent the citizenry from becoming fully informed, which in turn can impede democratic processes.
Both Correio da Bahia and A Tarde mostly excluded ‘everyday’ citizens as both sources and actors, which calls into question whether such top-down news best serves citizens and democracy. If newspapers in Salvador only inform their readers about political news from the perspective of officials – even if the officials quoted are from both sides of the story, as in the case of A Tarde – then perhaps readers would be less able to participate fully in democratic processes. Without participation of citizens, consolidation of democracy could stall. More inclusive news might not necessarily lead readers to participate, but it could inform them about how to mobilize, perhaps allowing them to make an informed decision about whether, or how, they would like to join in democratic processes.
Future coverage of other governmental scandals could provide both newspapers the opportunity to change their patterns of top-down reporting and potentially increase their level of independence. The newspapers should consider how residents in Bahia are impacted by the corruption. If Correio da Bahia and A Tarde open more space for ordinary people in the news, they will be asserting their independence, potentially developing civil society and perhaps contributing to the strengthening of democracy. As Brazil continues its consolidation of democracy, journalists, too, must participate in that transition. Clientelistic relationships can play no part in an independent press. For newspapers to foster an informed citizenry, they must rise above the interests of politicians and elites.
This analysis contributes an understanding to the struggles that journalists face not only in Brazil, but also in developing and established democracies throughout the western hemisphere. Even in democracies, the abolishment of official government censorship is not enough to guarantee press independence, as political and economic interests continue to maintain both direct and indirect control. Coronels like ACM, and newspapers like Correio da Bahia that serve as mouthpieces for them, are not confined to Bahia, as seen by the influence conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch appears to exercise over news outlets he owns, such as Fox News in the United States. As such, owner instrumentalization can be found not only wherever democracy is young, or freedom of expression is weak, but even in established democracies like the United States.
Thus, examining the content of A Tarde and Correio da Bahia has showed how two Brazilian newspapers struggled with problems faced by journalists working in democracies throughout the Americas. Correio da Bahia is an example of what not to do, as it succumbed to instrumentalization, publishing ‘news’ that furthered the interests of its owner. A Tarde, on the other hand, attempted to provide citizens with the information they needed to participate politically and civically.
Now that ACM has died, future studies should explore whether Correio da Bahia has fallen under the thumb of a new political boss and continued in its partisan ways, or whether the newspaper, out from under ACM’s shadow, is showing signs of an independent press. Additionally, given the declining role of printed newspapers, it also would be worth studying the influence of ‘strongmen’ like ACM on online media versus traditional, legacy media throughout Latin America.