Beyond science denialism: disinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

An analysis of an archive formed by editorials from two of the most important Brazilian newspapers during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic identified the predominance of a framing that attributed decisions of the Bolsonaro government to a denial of science. Based on historical and sociological sources, this paper discusses what this normative framing about science and health ignored, especially how the extreme-right adapted use of the paradigm of disinformation created by the tobacco industry to the new mediatic ecosystem. The paper concludes that the journalistic framing of science denialism emphasized criticisms that accused the state of incompetence, giving less visibility to the role of the federal Unified Healthcare System during the health emergency.