Cascading corruption news: explaining the bias of media attention to Brazil’s political scandals

Abstract

Through a content analysis of 8,800 news items and six months of front pages of three Brazilian newspapers, all dealing with corruption and political transgression, the present article documents the remarkable bias of media coverage toward corruption scandals. Said bias is examined as an informational phenomenon, arising from key systemic and commercial factors of Brazil’s news media: an information cascade of news on corruption formed, destabilizing the governing coalition and legitimizing the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff. As this process gained momentum, questions of accountability were disregarded by the media, with harmful effects for democracy.

Coronavirus meets the clash of civilizations

“…Starting from 2014, traditional media outlets adopted a growing divisive behavior (Damgaard, 2018). Immediately after President Dilma Rousseff's reelection in 2014, supporters of the defeated candidate, Aécio Neves, went to the streets in major cities to claim her victory was fraudulent.…”

A comunicação dos Tribunais de Contas e Ministérios Públicos nas redes sociais: os desafios da accountability na democracia digital

“…Trata-se igualmente de uso das redes sociais como canal de comunicação política, não só na interação de instituições com outros órgãos do Estado e com o cidadão, mas também em campanhas eleitorais e em momentos de crises políticas. Além da profissionalização do processo de comunicação, por meio da criação de departamentos específicos e da contratação de técnicos especializados na área, a literatura chama atenção para a dimensão política das iniciativas de comunicação por meio de redes sociais (Fontes & Marques, 2022;Goldbeck et al, 2010;Hong, 2013;Vergeer et al, 2011), ressaltando que se deve estar atento ainda para o conteúdo e o timing em que as mensagens são divulgadas (Damgaard, 2018;Feres & Sassara, 2016). Segundo essa literatura, as postagens podem ocorrer com mais intensidade justamente nos momentos de convulsão política e social, momentos em que pensamos que não se deve descartar o maior protagonismo dos membros desses órgãos de controle na cena política.…”

The communication of Courts of Accounts and Prosecution Services on social media: the challenges of accountability in the digital democracy

“…It is also a channel of political communication, not only in the interaction with other State agencies and with citizens, but also in electoral campaigns and in moments of political crisis. In addition to the professionalization of the communication process, through the creation of specific departments and the hiring of skilled professionals in the area, the literature draws attention to the political dimension of communication efforts through social media (Fontes & Marques, 2022;Goldbeck et al, 2010;Hong, 2013;Vergeer et al, 2011), further stressing that attention should be focused on the content and the timing for disseminating messages (Damgaard, 2018;Feres & Sassara, 2016). According to the literature, postings may occur with more intensity precisely in moments of political and social upheaval, moments when a greater protagonism by members of these oversight agencies in the political scene cannot be overlooked.…”