Espaço geográfico, comunicação e psicosfera: a imagem da Petrobras construída pelos meios de comunicação

Abstract

MANTOAN, Ruth Alexandre de Paulo. Geographic space, communication and psychosphere: The image of Petrobras built by the media. 2020. 89 f. Dissertation (Master in Human Geography) University of São Paulo, São Paulo. 2020.Petrobras is the most important company in Brazil, because in addition to being essential for national energy security, it has the capacity to foster economic growth, streamlining the spatial circuit of oil production, especially after the discovery of the pre-salt, which was possible with large investments of public money. Due to this centrality, the objective of this research is to capture the image of Petrobras, which reaches Brazilians through the information they receive through the media, and to consider the influences of this image on the destiny of this important national heritage. Our study is based on the concept of psychosphere, which according to Milton Santos' theory of space, helps to understand narratives and imaginary about the result of beliefs, desires, desires and habits that inspire philosophical and practical behaviors. We analyzed what was published in the newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and O Globo, about the state-owned company; both printed matter belong to the two largest communication groups in the country, with different types of media and internet platforms, which ensures the rapid circulation of information throughout the Brazilian territory, with the potential to guide other communication vehicles. We defined the research time between 2015 and 2017 and the subjects, considered by us, important for the state-owned company: national / local content; asset sales; sharing contracts and Lava Jato, for a qualitative survey of seven months and a quantitative one supported by a script in Python, using webscraping techniques, for a sample that covers the period between June 1, 2015 and July 30, 2017. We seek whether there was a diversity of thinking from the sources heard to express an opinion on the company, frequency of each subject, and the newspapers' approach to the state's role in national energy security. We consider of utmost importance the need to build another image of Petrobras, which allows to make more clear the strategic role of the state in the journalistic information that circulates in the territory, so that all citizens can participate in the decisions about the company's destinations, which despite to have a public capital, it should keep its role in favor of the development of the Nation, defined in the Constitution.