O atentado à praça dos três poderes na imprensa gaúcha : uma análise discursiva dos jornais Correio do Povo e Zero Hora

Abstract

For twenty years, Brazil endured the hardships of a military dictatorship during which thousands of people were arrested, tortured, killed, or disappeared without a trace. Decades after the end of this period, a portion of the population began to desire and publicly advocate for a military takeover. Conservative politicians linked to the armed forces gained national prominence, uniting around a common enemy: the Brazilian left and the communist threat— the Workers' Party (PT), the main political group associated with this ideological stance, became a target. In 2018, retired Army captain Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of the country and led the nation until 2022, when he sought re-election but was ultimately defeated by the PT’s main leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This outcome provoked outrage among Bolsonaro’s supporters, who mobilized and held protests in different parts of the country. Camps were set up in front of army barracks in various states as a show of support for a military uprising. One week after Lula’s inauguration, on January 8, 2023, the groups camped outside barracks in the Federal District and surrounding areas marched towards Praça dos Três Poderes, the public square that houses the buildings of the National Congress, the Planalto Palace, and the Supreme Federal Court. There, they broke windows and artworks, destroyed documents, public property, and cultural artifacts, leaving a mark of regression and sorrow in the country's history. A Federal Police investigation later confirmed that the intention that afternoon was to stage a coup and remove the democratically elected leader. The national and international response was immediate across media platforms such as radio, television, and the internet, which are characterized by their instantaneity. Due to the complexity of production and news distribution, print newspapers expanded on the events only the following day, seeking to explain how the attack was organized, what its purpose was, and what possible punishments the perpetrators of the destruction on that Sunday might face. From a historical perspective on the event and bringing the topic into a local context, this research aims to understand how the facts were covered by the newspapers Correio do Povo and Zero Hora in Porto Alegre. Through discourse analysis, it seeks to elucidate how these media outlets positioned themselves on the issue. Additionally, the study examines the opening editorials and political opinion columns published by these newspapers on January 9. To achieve this, the research is based on concepts established by journalism and political columnism theories to differentiate opinion from information, through the methodological lens of discourse analysis, according to the understandings of Patrick Charaudeau (2011; 2019). As a focus, the study analyzes institutional opinion editorials and political columns published the day after the events, on January 9, 2023.