PRESS X GOVERNMENT: the populist rhetoric of the covid-19 pandemic on the social network Twitter

IMPRENSA X GOVERNO: a retórica populista da pandemia da covid-19 na rede social Twitter

PRENSA X GOBIERNO: la retórica populista de la pandemia covid-19 en la red social Twitter

ABSTRACT

This paper begins with a discussion of the concept of populism in order to analyze how Jair Bolsonaro’s criticisms of the press circulated on the social network Twitter at a time when Brazil had recorded the highest number of covid-related deaths, in the first week of March 2021. This paper presupposes that the president’s support network incorporated the populist binary rhetoric of “us” against a “corrupt elite” which is responsible for conspiring and amplifying the effects of the health crisis in the country. As a methodology, we opted for a mixed proposal based on content analysis and analysis of social networks. As a result, we found that the tweets from Bolsonaro supporters claim that the press is corrupt, and manipulates and harasses the president in its coverage of the pandemic.

Key words
Populism; Press; Jair Bolsonaro; Pandemic; Covid-19