Jornalismo e controle social: abordagem da transparência legislativa pelos portais de notícias do nordeste

Abstract

The Legislative Branch, in the specific figure of the Legislative Assemblies of the Northeast, has a significant role in promoting transparency of public information and data, since they are representative bodies and, therefore, must comply with a series of requirements set forth in the Access to Information Law (LAI) and the Transparency Law. It is in this context that the media participates and influences, whether directly or indirectly, in the process of accountability, from the use of public information, providing ways for there to be social control of state institutions. Thus, in this research, we are interested in examining how the news portals of newspapers in the Northeast approach state legislative transparency in their articles and construct the journalistic narrative. Our analytical path adheres to Content Analysis (CA) and Discourse Analysis (DA) as methodological devices to understand the empirical sample of 430 news stories published in the newspaper portals: Gazeta de Alagoas - Gazeta Web (AL), Correio - Correio 24 Horas (BA), Diário do Nordeste (CE), O Imparcial (MA), Correio da Paraíba - Portal Correio (PB), Diário de Pernambuco (PE), Jornal O Dia (PI), Tribuna do Norte (RN) and Correio de Sergipe - Portal AJN1 (SE) - portals with free access to the news collection and with print and digital circulation -, between 2011 and 2021. The time frame is relevant for understanding the year in which the LAI was sanctioned (2011) and established a requirement when it came into force (2012) for the disclosure of information and data on official websites by public agencies that are members of the direct administration, and the year in which it completed 10 years of its approval (2021). This period also brings subsidy to understand when these portals began to insert data of state legislative transparency, based on the transparency portals, in their articles. Thus, the central research question was formulated: How do news portals in the Northeast approach the transparency of the state legislature in their articles? This research is necessary because it explores the social role of journalism as a defender of the public interest and a tool for social control, playing a role, even if unofficial, in the surveillance of the actions of the State (watchdog). Specifically, it is analyzed here how journalism can be an auxiliary instrument of social control of the Legislative Branch, which is often overshadowed by giving space to content that contemplates more the actions of the Executive. The results indicate that there is homogeneity on the part of the news portals in approaching the transparency of the Legislative with subjects related to its main function, which is to legislate, through transparency at an intermediate level. The types of transparency found with more incidence in the news were Administrative/Legislative, which prioritizes the image of the House, and Relationship/Positioning, which focuses on the image of the parliamentarian. Regarding the construction of the journalistic discourse, it is noticeable the organization of the places of speech and injunction to interpretation, language resources, relationship between the subjects and organization of the construction of meanings about transparency in the articles classified with intermediate and advanced level of transparency.