The press and the fuse lit by vandalism in Brasília
The attack by Bolsonarists (the extreme right followers of former president Jair Bolsonaro) on the headquarters of the three constitutional powers on the afternoon of Sunday, January 8, opens a new chapter in Brazilian politics in which the press plays a key role. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, as well as news websites and independent informants on social networks, now become protagonists in the campaign to defuse the political bomb armed by the extreme right and which threatens all of us, if it explodes.
The relevance of the role of the press lies in the fact that it is primarily responsible for transmitting the news consumed by the public, who may be conditioned to adopt positions influenced by the presentation of data, facts and events reported in newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV or through social networks on the internet.
The current political situation in the country is extremely delicate and fluid because what is at stake are perceptions of events highlighted in the press. It is the process that North Americans call the conquest of “hearts and minds”, that in the internet age has become the most important tool in the processes of social, political and economic change. The “Lava Jato” (Car Wash) case (1) is clear proof of how the use of information to control the population’s perceptions can generate dramatic changes in the political, social and economic context of a country.
The reactions against the vandalism promoted by Bolsonarista scum on Sunday in Brasilia showed that most political agents and Brazilian public opinion are against the use of illegal means to promote extreme right-wing radicalism. But this does not guarantee a return to political stability because there is a considerable segment of society that considers itself outside of the institutional framework and thus has no contempt for the prevailing rules of the democratic game.
Despite being a minority, this segment was able to ignite a political fuse comparable to an urban guerrilla, formed by illegal camps, roadblocks, atacks to the electrical power grid and burning buses. These are actions that seek to spread insecurity and fear among the population as a whole. This type of strategy is difficult to neutralize overnight because it involves distorted perceptions of reality. It will require careful intelligence work and, above all, an adequate information strategy on the part of the news media corporations and independent journalists.
The press is perhaps the best instrument for deconstructing the radical right discourse on issues such as freedom of expression, a complex and abstract issue that was popularized by the press itself but is now being used against it. This deconstruction of right-wing extremist discourse is a central objective of combating disinformation and a way of preserving an essential value for democratic coexistence.
Disinformation and investigation
It is evident that the press needs to keep demanding governmental and social actions aimed at reducing the effect of the terrorist actions of the extreme right, but this alone is not enough. There are two areas of public information in which the press can exert an influence that goes beyond official propaganda and marketing in the fight against fascistization in the country: the fight against disinformation and the use of investigative journalism.
Disinformation is a process directly linked to the distortion of perceptions developed by people regarding topics on the journalistic agenda. The extreme right uses disinformation as one of its main weapons, focusing especially on individuals who consume information without any critical concern for the veracity and reliability of the news. This is the case of the absolute majority of followers of Bolsonarist extremism who easily accept any type of fake news and invitations to participate in terrorist acts.
Combating disinformation is a long and complex process, but there is an easy way for journalism to put it into practice: when publishing a piece of news, give more importance to its probable consequences and developments than to the perfection of the title, the fluidity of the lead or whether the inverted pyramid was correctly developed. The journalist cannot remain indifferent in the face of a false or distorted statement by a politician, businessman or public agent if he is concerned about the type of consequence that unchecked news will have among readers, listeners, viewers or users of social networks. The exemption rule assumes becomes less important than a careful evaluation of how news will affect the public interest.
Investigative journalism, on the other hand, can give the press the ability to publish data, facts and events kept secret by right-wing extremists. The arsenal of secrecy assembled by radical Bolsonarists offers a wide field for the practice of journalistic investigation techniques that, in other contexts, triggered changes that altered the lives of many people.
If the press is really concerned about the survival of democracy in the country, it could create a kind of investigative consortium to identify, for example, the origin of the resources used in the mobilization of extreme right-wing sympathizers, as in the case of encampments in military barracks. It is a type of investigative journalism with great civic utility in that it helps people to understand what is behind Bolsonarist discourse.
